White
by The Masked Crusader
Summary: Unova's different now. Algoran thought himself the only survivor of a cataclysmic attack from a dragon of legends, until he found his very first Pokemon companion. They soon embark on an uncertain adventure across the country on the chance of locating Algoran's only remaining family. No human life remains for miles around, leaving the two to stumble through a desolate world.
1. The Restless Dragon

**Expecting a story about a boy traveling through the conventional Pokemon story? You shouldn't be if you read the summary. Anyway, here's a fanfiction. I should probably mention this: Algoran can do telepathic stuff with Pokemon. I would have said that in the summary, but I only had so many characters to work with. This is why I can't do Twitter. With that being said, sit back, put yourself in a mood, and prepare to watch the innocent land of Unova be crushed, torched, and all manner of horrible other things.**

* * *

A boy of fifteen cannot be expected to achieve what Algoran did.

It happened shortly before midnight. The night had arrived and gently covered Nuvema Town with its deep blue shadow. All seemed normal. And nothing bad could ever happen here, as nothing would ever target this place. There was nothing distinguishing about it; it only showed up on maybe half of all maps made.

But someone had seen a threat in the innocent town—a reason to wipe it out. T'was a cold October night when shadow loomed over the moon. The town square was crushed beneath a monster of evil proportions. Townsfolk rushed from their sleep to see the event. While most of the thing was hidden in shadows, its massive plumage was lit with red when it sprayed flames across the central neighborhoods. People perished.

Crackling blue rays like lightning struck other homes and blew them apart. Missiles of fire obliterated the scientific district, leaving devices burned and broken. Trees were roasted and left as blackened sticks. That turned the forest around the town into something of a nightmare. Black clouds covered the sky, and dozens more people were lost.

The monster's solution still wasn't complete. Algoran was at his house, which lay just outside the boundaries of science. It was a pitiful house, run-down and weary. The boy scrambled through the wreckage in the direction of the city gate. A mentally-charged orb of energy rocketed at him, and all that was left was a crater. The dragon, finally restful, blasted out of the settlement.

By daybreak, not a trace was left except for the charred bases of houses. Decimated scientific equipment that used to be scattered throughout the place now sparked in its loneliness. With no humans left to keep the place through the night, rodents began to creep about. Foot-tall rats that stood on two feet and glared with scarlet eyes prowled around, snatching anything they could find. Sneaky red dots, their brethren, peered from the forests surrounding what used to be the town.

The brave ones crawled about a body that, to their disgust, was too new. It lay softly in the ruins of a bigger house. Though burned all over and broken in many places, it was alive. And a live body was no food for them.

As the sun rose and struggled to shine through a haze of menacing clouds, the body shifted. The attack was over, and Algoran lived.

}====={

Where had he come from? His house. Right. That made sense. But why would he be here, in the Griffith's living room? Surrounded by smoking planks of wood…toppled bookshelves…A FINGER…

Algoran jumped to his senses and clambered out of the area as fast as he could. The instant he hit that meager top speed, bolts of pain blasted through him. He fell on his face in his neighbor's yard and tried to regain his memory. There was a ringing in his ears and a pounding in his head, and images of fire and smoke raced through his mind. There was a creature—a towering, white monster, and a rider. That was all he could see. And as quickly as they had come, they were gone.

Along with everything and everyone he'd ever known.

The only thing he could do now, in shock from the carnage, was to see what was left in his home. Maybe he could stumble his way there. But probably not, seeing as his body was really in a horrible condition.

The sun was up, so he could at least see. Though he didn't really want to have to look at all his burns and gashes and torn pajamas. Blood was sticking his plaid pants to his left leg, and seeing all this did nothing to dull the pain. If anything, it became more intense.

He didn't live too far away from where he was now. In fact, his house was just down the street. But it was a street paved with gravel and dirt, and it was very unappealing to Algoran's sliced feet and knee.

He lay there, in the browned grass, smelling the smoke. At some point, he knew he was going to have to get fixed up. But right now, the better-sounding idea was to stay here and go back to sleep. So he did. And with it, the pain went away, and he was at peace again. . .

}====={

The great black shadow, hundreds of feet tall, snapped at Algoran's face and delivered the killing blow.

}====={

Algoran's next conscious feeling was of the grass sliding along his back. His eyes opened by themselves, and he saw the blackened sky. Upon trying to sit up, he found he was shackled. By ropes, chains, no…plants?

Much as he would have liked to turn his head and see the cause for this, he was stiff and the pain was coming back. It wasn't just in his injured places—it was all over him. So he trusted the force dragging him in short bursts and waited for something else to happen.

'_Probably shouldn't get too much dirt on him. That might be bad… Here goes nothing._'

Algoran felt his drifting mind burst into full alertness when a little girl's voice intruded. His eyes went wide open, and he stayed so still it made his former state seem like a sugar high. He wanted to speak out, to find who had spoken. Because it couldn't have been in his head—that was impossible. But that thought of the supernatural made him keep his mouth shut.

He stifled the thought of how much earth was getting in his lacerations while he and the puller crossed the road. The force was dragging him at an increased pace now, which, due to the way his shoulders were held, raised his head off the ground. It was now that he found his voice and spoke into the morning air.

"Who was talking?"

His head dropped into the ground again. The chains of plant material holding him slithered out of their knots and loops, disgusting Algoran with the thought of snakes.

After a hesitation, the same voice hit him, and it was definitely not coming through his ears. _'Me? I wasn't talking…' _Complex white noise filled Algoran's head. '_Can you hear my thoughts? Stop that. Sit up and look at me.'_

Strong, smooth hands pushed Algoran into a better position. He recognized his front lawn, and the smoldering box springs of the grubby couch his mom had been trying to sell on the curb.

When he saw the thing that had pulled him through his neighborhood and sat him up, he couldn't believe it. Unlike the towering being he would have thought of, what stood there at the foot of his house was a diminutive reptile.

It was two feet tall at best and stood on little legs that seemed like they couldn't possibly support its body. They, like its front and face, were covered in beige scales. The rest, meaning its back and the top of its head, was the color of what grass used to be. It even had a leaf-like texture. This leafiness continued into its tiny, thin arms, each with three pointy fingers. They were crossed over a thicker portion of its chest, a part that had another layer of scales. Its large, chocolate eyes were surrounded by dandelion-colored circles. A stripe of the same color ran down its back and stopped in the center of a three-plated leaf on the end of a short tail. Two curved yellow decorations came from the sides of its chest.

"You pulled me all this way?"

_'I did. And don't sound so surprised.'_

Algoran collected himself and discovered his priorities. "Look, we can talk about how I can read you mind later, but if you have any ideas for me, I ought to get myself bandaged soon."

_'That's not a problem. I assume you'd want to be dressed first. You don't have a problem with vegetables, do you?"'_

"Yes, and no…?"

_'Good.'_ Algoran was surprised again when vines and other plant things grew rapidly from above the yellow decorations. The thing he could only assume was a Pokémon he hadn't seen before worked these like bigger arms.

Two were strong enough to pull the half-sufficient remains of a door off its hinges and leave in in the yard. At least six others roughly took Algoran by the limbs and body, sending new strikes of pain into his awareness, and took him inside. He was met with the wreckage of his home, but the waves of depression this would have brought were shoved aside by the sudden waves of pain.

_'Give me directions,'_ his new houseguest commanded.

"Egk—room at the end of the hallway, all over the floor."

_'Yeah, and what do you want?'_ Vines of seemingly infinite length kept growing from her and reached down the hall to Algoran's room. 'Tell me what they would feel like, though, because I don't know all your clothes names.'

"Rough, two rows, big hole on one end, two little ones on the others." She threw an old pair of gray jeans into the living room where they were now. "Smooth and stretchy," a black undershirt, "Soft and poufy," his blue winter jacket, "Really rough and shaped like feet," red-and-black Velcro shoes, "And while you're there, my hat should be on the wall. It's for good luck, and it fits the size of my head."

_'I don't believe in luck.'_ Nevertheless, Algoran's Pokéball-colored hat was dropped onto the pile. Now that she was done collecting, the lizard didn't retract her vines.

"That's it. All I need to be dressed. I'll get right to that." She raised just one eyelid from its quarter-closed resting state. If she had them, it probably would have been an eyebrow. "What?"

_'Please. You couldn't move two inches in this state, let alone dress yourself.'_

Algoran wanted to bring up that he had actually moved a few feet before passing out again, but then realized his new acquaintance was moving to undress him.

"You're not going t—"

_'And now you think I can't do this blind.'_ Indeed, she had shut her big eyes tight and was changing his clothes by…he didn't know what. It was like the vines told her all she needed to know. But that was just uncomfortable.

His assistant finished her required job, but refused to be done. The vines continued working. They roughly took his useless left leg, sending a new strike of pain into him, and coiled it in a grassy tourniquet. They tightly wrapped his cuts and burns and strapped them on with stems. As if to get a better view, she had lifted herself with vines that hooked to broken ceiling parts. It was a lot to look at, this little reptile acting as the console of a network of versatile tools. All the while, she just hung there, acting like it wasn't even a big deal. He could see, if he looked close enough, what looked like the rapid movement of her eyes under the lids. It was like she was tracking something on the inside of her head.

When it was finished, Algoran had green all over, his leg was set, and the vines miraculously hid back in the lizard's shoulders. He jarringly hit the floor._ 'Impressed yet?'_

"…Yeah. Still a little in shock over everything, but yeah. I can't stand up." Two thick tree branches landed behind him. They were nearly the same size, topped with leaves, and looked strong enough to support him. "Where'd—"

'Don't mind the "where." Use them like crutches.'

He did. He put the leafy ends under his arms, realizing they were there to keep it from being too rough. They worked nicely, and they certainly made his situation worlds better. The unnamed plant Pokémon walked slowly with Algoran as he slowly ascended the two steps on his porch. The inside of his house stopped his blindness to all that was wrong with today.

All the things he had grown up with were gone. His family, his kitchen, his room. Now they were charred remains. He didn't know why he'd wanted to come here. There was nothing here that would serve any purpose to him now, and all it did was make him sad.

He saw himself in the shards of a mirror, and almost didn't recognize the image. His brown hair was wild and burned, and his face was covered in tied-on leaves that were now being stained with his blood. His houseguest joined his session and he couldn't help noticing that their eyes were the same color. Exactly.

Pushing his crushing sadness aside, he looked down on the almost humorously small Pokémon. Despite its position, it looked at him with an expression of subtle superiority.

"So. What are you doing to let me read your mind?"

_'You think I know? What are you doing to get into my head?'_

"I really don't know. I just started hearing you think as soon as I was awake again."

She emitted a pinched squeak, which was the first actual sound Algoran had heard her make. _'All I did was take pity on you. I didn't ask for my mind to be violated.'_

"I didn't even ask for help, and my privacy was violated."

_'Mother knows best. Speaking of which, you got any family left?'_

"_Mother?_ No, Dad's been gone, sister's been dead…Mom's just now dead…and Amirissa…" Algoran's eyes suddenly widened. "Maybe…maybe this could be the only town that got attacked! We could still find Amirissa!

_'Who's Amirissa?'_

"My other, older sister—she lives in Castelia City. It might be far enough away from here that they're all safe."

_'Really. Well, you can go halfway across the country on a maybe, but I'm staying right here.'_

"Fine, then. This'll be my own journey, then."

_'That's great. Have fun, you big mess.' _She turned away to pick through his house, but looked back at him hopping a few inches at a time out of his home and northward. She shouldn't follow him. He'd only get himself killed…but now there was that added responsibility for him. What was that? This joke wasn't her job. Then again. . .

_'Alright, I'll come. You'll need the protection. I'm Entrica, what's your name.'_ She had rushed to catch up with Algoran on those little legs, and now walked disgruntled and beside him.

"Oh, good. My name's Algoran. And I'm not going just yet. As long as we're leaving this peninsula, there are some things I should take with us."

_'Get them quickly. If we're going to go, I want to go.'_

Entrica watched the boy inch to his house. When he got to the front of his house, she picked him up with a vine hook and put him past the front door. After a good fifteen minutes, he had returned with a small black single-strap backpack.

_'What's that for?'_

"You never know when you'll going to need extra storage. Or extra stuff." He slung the pack over his better shoulder. Together they moved at a crawling pace down Route 1, leaving home behind.


	2. Ivy's Peak

**Okay, next chapter. This one is slow, depressing, and mood-setting. Just be aware of that. If you're already mourning a loss of any kind, I would not recommend reading this right now. T'would only exacerbate thy feels. Fear not, though. If I remember correctly, Chapter 3 is a lot of fighting and arguing. So, spoilers, I guess. Okay, well, I'll just be going. Remember to eat your greens, be nice to your pets, and never use a Pokemon Center without adult supervision. Toodles!**

* * *

Route 1 used to be a simpler place. It was a nature road, open to everyone. Of course, the only people who ever visited were residents of Nuvema Town or Accumula Town, which was on the far end of the drive. This area of the country wasn't worth it to the big-city folk.

It was pretty in the fall, but not today. Today it was a boneyard of tree skeletons with death-black trunks pointing against the almost-as-black sky. Algoran wasn't sure, but this atmosphere seemed to be giving Entrica a shaky feeling inside.

"I hope there's something of use in Accumula Town," Algoran thought out loud. "I don't have high hopes that it missed all the destruction, but maybe we could find supplies or something."

_"Like what?"_

"Maybe food. I don't think any of mine survived."

_"I've hunted other Pokémon in hard times. It wasn't pretty, but I wasn't getting any sunlight."_

"You can eat sunlight?"

_"Well, what do you know about plants? You call it photosynthesis. I call it breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There was a week or so that was overcast with no breaks, and I had to eat a Wind-Rider…"_

"What's a Wind-Rider, then?"

_ "Any Pokémon that flies. I hate them, and so did my family. They're all overconfident, cocky trash."_ Algoran noted her mild hypocrisy, but didn't mention it.

As Algoran had expected, Accumula Town was unrecognizable. Buildings were shattered, bricks lay on the ground in heaps, and even the blocks of concrete the city was built on were chipped and cracked. The day was shaping up to be dark and cloudy.

"Well, this is depressing," he said, and meant it. One forbidding building stood almost unscathed atop a concrete hill—what used to be a Pokémon Center. Formerly, it was a place of healing and renewal. Now it was empty.

The stairs up the raised section of town were smashed, as were the other flights to other elevated plazas across the village. They were more like a ramp now than a flight of stairs, so Algoran had less trouble than he might have had getting up to the beacon of stability that was this intact structure.

Still, by the time he got himself up there, Entrica had rushed on ahead on those little feet. She was stopped at the sliding glass doors. Algoran, once reaching her position, was the only one able to figure out how to get in.

"You just walk up to the doors…" Algoran tried to demonstrate, forgetting the power was out everywhere. To further remind him, a downed electrical wire gave a sputtering spark with its last bit of energy. "Maybe we could force them open."

He tried to wedge one of the wood crutches between the glass doors before Entrica sighed exasperatedly and sent out one vine to hold him up and one to take the wood from him. She smashed the glass, and then gave the crutch back to Algoran. In silence, he followed her in.

The dim daylight from outside was just enough to see by in the two-story complex. It was probably the most technologic building in all of Accumula Town. The lobby was overlooked by a half-sized balcony, on which a darkened globe rested on a pedestal accompanied by rows of circular seats. On the ground floor, Algoran's attention was drawn to a perfectly centered counter behind which was an apparatus with spots for six Pokéballs.

Algoran almost began telling Entrica about what Pokémon Centers did, but realized through the mental connection that she was about to try to educate him. So he remained quiet. He did get an idea—a risky one, and one that he really shouldn't have expected to work. But it would get him out of this injured situation.

_"So this is—what're you—you're going to use the Pokémon Center to heal _you_?"_

"Don't try to hide it. I can tell you want me to move faster. This, if it works, should do that."

Algoran entered the area behind the counter by means of a gate in its side. He pulled himself up to sit on the plate that normally cradled inactive, fainted Pokémon. Meanwhile, Entrica inspected what a side counter closer to the Center's doors had to offer. Algoran took a good look at mechanical parts he could see from this new position.

He tapped the inactive machine with the back of his foot. Perhaps by something being shifted inside, his entire seat fell away, and he dropped at least five feet into a pitch-black pit.

The metal sounds of the breakage echoed in the mystery room for a few seconds, which is a really long time for an echo. To his surprise, and extreme pain, Algoran had fallen on a conveyor belt. He found this out when it started up with some mechanical grinding and a jolt of movement. The old Pokéball holder had fallen on the ground somewhere.

One greenish floodlight sputtered on, sending eerie light from the ceiling. This was enough to see various stations along the belt, which looked like it eventually led into a door in the opposite side wall. Robotic arms built into the concrete wall marked these stations. Algoran would have marveled at the technology he never knew existed in this part of the region if he'd been at a safe distance, not staring one of these metal limbs in the face.

Each looked to be brandishing a different sort of medical utensil. This closest one zapped Algoran's fear instincts right up. It held an injection needle in three thin metal fingers, each with a miniature camera on its knuckle. Algoran was simply too broken to move fast enough to avoid getting the thing pointed at his face. But there was no jabbing done—the thinnest point tuned out to be a sort of pipe that blasted a jet of odd-smelling air at his nose.

That was the end of his movement. His entire body went limp without his control. He was forced to lie on the belt and drift toward the other menacing robotic extensions.

At the first group, a cloud of green powder puffed all over him, and he lost sensation in his body. The bright side to this was that he no longer had to endure the throbs in his leg, and the general pain from everywhere else. On the other hand, he was rendered unconscious.

After a comatose nap, Algoran's head banged against a metal plate. He found, coming back into awareness, that he had been moved into the alcove behind the door in the wall he'd seen when first coming into this underground chamber. He'd likely been through all the robotic stations.

Presently, his position appeared to be on a caution-yellow-and-black square elevator. It rumbled and shook as it rose through a rusted metal shaft. He arrived in a large, dark box. One vertical line of daylight penetrated a side. Algoran felt the weight of his carry-on bag and shoved it off himself. He tentatively tried to stand up, knowing it would just shoot him with pain again…but it didn't. He was able to get to his feet, reach for the opening, and feel his head without the discomfort of before. A ridiculous idea hit him.

Was he right after all? Pokémon Centers could be used for more than just Pokemon? He resolved to search for a full answer sometime. He put his hand on the light line, and a few familiar vines inched onto his side of the wall. A little shaky, they nonetheless pried apart two metal doors concealed behind the Center's counter.

_"Oh, good. I thought you'd gotten yourself into danger."_

"Thanks," Algoran breathily replied. "I knew you cared."

_"Don't get your hopes up, fleshy. I didn't want to have to put myself into something dangerous."_

"That still means you—_fleshy?_"

_"You're made of skin. I can call you fleshy."_

"Yes, but I'm not just that. There's other things. I've got bones, organs, muscles…"

_"You blind person. Would you take a look at the top of your head?"_

Algoran raised his newly fully functional arm to where Entrica guided by pointing to her own head. After some feeling around, he discovered a leafy texture. "Yeah, you probably just got a leaf on me with all your showing off."

_"I don't use leaves. Also, did you even notice you got all fixed up?"_

He went to pull the leaf out of his hair, but found it stuck. He gave it a few more tries before accepting it was glued there somehow. He spotted a cracked mirror behind the other counter and went to remove the object from his head. As it stood, the vegetation was bent on staying.

He turned back to Entrica, who was making arm motions like she was trying to throw something. "Yeah, I noticed. I'm just going to deal with this thing later. Maybe there'll be some scissors somewhere and I can just cut it off. What're you doing?"

_"I hadn't ever _tried_ to use leaves. So I just did, and nothing happened. I'll figure out some way to do it."_

"Well, if it's all the same to you, I'd prefer we move on. At least out of this building, because I'm sure whatever just happened was very unpleasant."

}====={

Algoran and Entrica had just set foot on what used to be Accumula's public park when Algoran's fresh face was swiped at by a blindingly fast claw. Entrica made a pinched squeaking sound, presumably from surprise, and the next second brought the crack of a whip.

Algoran had closed his eyes and brought his hand up to the injury while Entrica did whatever she did. When he looked again, his right cheek was stinging and a purple cat he recognized as a Purrloin landed on the burned grass. It rolled a few feet away and was still.

He inhaled sharply. "Ooh, that was so close to my eye." Entrica just rolled hers.

_"You should get some means of protection, you klutz." _

He'd only been renewed for a few minutes, and now Algoran was sitting still on the ground while Entrica wrapped his face in vines. They covered the wound the Purrloin had put in his face, but he still had to deal with the fact that he apparently could not go ten minutes in this new sort of world without being viciously attacked.

"Well, this does not bode well for the rest of this adventure," he said with a scowl.

_"I see what you mean."_ For whatever reason, Entrica was using more traditional ways of maneuvering the vines now, rather than the grand show she'd put on earlier. Algoran took a moment to ponder how much energy all that took. _"If I have to keep fixing you and steering you away from trouble, I won't have time to breathe."_

Algoran kept his mouth shut. For having lost his family, his home, and his pride in one fiery night, he would have thought Entrica could sympathize and leave him alone. Yet she constantly belittled him. In his refusal to say another word for fear of how she'd turn it around and insult him, Algoran theorized about when she might get to know him enough to stop.

She finished her task and tied the vines with a delicate knot_. "There. That should hold until you manage to endanger yourself again."_

"Thanks. We'll get going in a few minutes. While we're here, there's something I think I should see."

When Algoran had been nothing but a small boy, back before his youngest sister was born, his mother had taken Amirissa and him to the highest elevation in the village—a place the townspeople called Ivy's Peak. It was just a nickname, brought on by the creeping wall plants that used to make their residency on the sides of the raised concrete plaza. Now, of course, they had gone the way of all the other plants in the area.

After their first visit, Algoran had been back here many times with his mom. They would leave a growing Amirissa with the house to herself, just to go look at the view. Algoran was allowed to go there by himself when he got even older, because Nuvema and Accumula were so close. He would go and just watch the place as it shifted with the seasons. There would be miles of forest. The trees would be green in summer, orange in fall, white in winter, and pink with berry buds in the spring. There would be mountains, faded into the color of the sky due to their distance. The sky would always be blue and inhabited by clouds like piles of ice cream.

The landscape was changed. The lush forest had burned into a graveyard of ash-caked trunks. The immovable mountains remained unsullied, but they no longer gave a look of beauty to the landscape. Today, they were darkened and looming, pointing into an overpowering sky dominated by black smoke. These filthy clouds prevented any more light getting to the surface than what was enough to make it seem like twilight.

Whereas Algoran had been able to put his feelings of sadness and loss to the side while being filled with determination to locate Amirissa, this experience brought it all back. He'd hoped seeing the land from Ivy's Peak's vantage point one more time would bring him some sort of closure. Instead, it just left him feeling like those trees—petrified and dead.

He plopped down, overcome, on the cement floor. It was rough from years of use. He didn't know how long he stared at the ground, but he did sense that Entrica had run off somewhere. He wasn't entirely convinced she would return. He picked his head up when he felt her presence again. With her were a few famous, half-obsolete devices.

_"If I were in your position, I'd want something to remember the old world by. So, I went back to the Pokémon Center and got you some of these."_ Her thought-voice was just a bit softer than it had been previously. It wasn't much, but it was a step.

Entrica had, barely contained in her arms, two tennis-ball-sized and –shaped objects. One was divided around the middle by a black line, which bent around a white circular button. One half was off-white.

The second side was steely black and was adorned with a squared arch of inactive yellow lights. The second was different altogether—both halves were pink. A tan paisley decorated the area around a purple button, which was right on a baby-blue line.

"I remember these," Algoran said, taking them into his hands. He had an easier time than she did holding onto them. "You know what they are, don't you?"

_"Yes, I know what they are." _Entrica's tone immediately changed to disapproval, but through his connection to her thoughts, Algoran thought he detected just a hint of dread.

"Yeah, people would catch Pokémon in these and keep them there till it was time to fight. I could never get into it. It always seemed like there was too much to keep track of. Types and whatnot."

_"I think battling should never have been invented. Pokémon can be people's companions just fine without having to get torched, bitten, and beat up every half hour."_

Algoran took some time to admire the things he knew to be called Pokéballs. He already knew very well what they looked like, but he'd never held one for this long. The Pokémon trainers of the world tended to be rather possessive of them, and Algoran was never a trainer.

After sealing them safely in his black bag for later use, Algoran took a closer look at his shadowy memories of the night before. "Hey, I just had a thought."

_"Really."_

"Yes, I did. What do you think happened to the monster?"

_"What do you mean by—oh, is that what happened? I thought a star had fallen."_

"What? No, this big white dragon thing showed up and killed everything." Entrica's face lit up with recognition.

_"Describe it to me. I may have met it before."_

"Uh…I couldn't see much of it because it was the middle of the night, but I know it can shoot fire, and some kind of lightning. It was covered in white fur…or feathers, I don't remember. Its eyes were glowing blue, and it can shoot huge balls of energy."

_"Yeah. I don't think I've met it."_

"Now, I'm hoping we won't meet up with it again, but in the event that we do, do we have a plan?"

_"Mmm…no. But let me think…you said it could breathe fire, which kills me. I could probably take some lightning, but that energy ball you talked about is also bad. How do you think you would hold up?"_

"Not well for any of it."

They sat in silence for a little bit. Then she "spoke" again.

'_There's plenty of Pokémon in the world. We're bound to find some that stand a better chance than you do.'_ As if on cue, a stout pigeon flew down from a partially collapsed roof to look at the lizard with a blank expression.

"Why's it looking at you like that?"

"Great. I know that look. That's a Wind-Rider. They look for small Royals-of-the-Forest like me to try and scare us. They never attack."

"I believe the correct words you're looking for are Flying-Type and Grass-Type."

Entrica lifted her nose condescendingly. _"No, the relationship between "Pokémon" of different elemental attributes existed long before humans rose to power and classified everything. Also, Royals-of-the-Forest means only my kind. That's Young-Buds, High-Leaves, and Great-Regalities."_

"Sorry about that. I wasn't raised in the woods."

_"From the smarts of you, it would have been better if you were."_

Algoran stood up and approached the Wind-Rider. "Go away. She doesn't like you." The Pokémon he knew to be a Pidove only hopped back and cocked its head. No further understanding appeared in its eyes. "You're just trouble." Algoran swiped his hand at the bird, and this enticed it to awkwardly take flight and flap off to the west. As it left, Algoran caught sight of a dark red feather in its tail that stood out from the rest of its gray coloration and popped out against the dark sky. It looked very out-of-place, and he questioned for a moment how it might have gotten there.

Algoran took one last glance at the landscape he thought he knew. In addition to the drastic transformation it had seen last night, there was now something there that hadn't been when he last looked. It was a shadow, sort of square-shaped, with four long appendages in each corner.

"Entrica," he said in a more hushed tone. "I think it's time we got on our way."

She seemed to have noticed it too, because she quickly nodded. _"Let's go."_ Algoran considered keeping track of the brief moments Entrica lost a bit of her aloofness. This was number two.

They passed down the winding Route 2 on their guard, but nothing jumped out at them. All that accompanied the two was the crags of tree trunks that now remained.


	3. Geysers, Dreams, and Yelling

**Has it been a while since the last chapter? I can't tell. I haven't figured out a good posting schedule yet. Anyway, I promised conflict in this part, and now that I look over it, there's still going to be some in-between stuff. For one thing, there's a dream sequence. Those are always good. But before you jump in, I'd like to take this time to sincerely apologize, from the deepest recesses of my heart. I won't give it away before you come to it, but there is one reference to pop culture in the real world. I needed something that grew really quickly to make a good comparison with...so I took the popularity of a certain video sensation. You'll know what I mean when you come to it. When you're done here, bear in mind that I really do enjoy reading reviews, and there are only three for the entire story as I write this massive note. Take a minute or so to tell me what you think, and especially whether you'd like to see this Adventure/Humor story more focused on the Adventure or the Humor or both. Or tell me some other direction you want it to go. I appreciate all of it. This went on for too long. Off I go!**

* * *

Algoran was no longer surprised when, having caught sight of Striaton City's brick complexes, it was rubble as well. It took him and Entrica the rest of the morning to traverse the road. In the city, the rubble was mostly bricks and glass, but one thing stood out, one building that wasn't destroyed.

For special occasions, there was a restaurant that Algoran had been a few times to before. It was still standing, but another, newer-looking floor was built on top of it. Once having only two stories (one for the restaurant and one for paperwork), it now had three, each with different-colored stained glass windows. Blue was first, then green, then red on top.

"It almost looks like there could be actual people in there," Entrica observed.

"You're right. If there—"

"_I know I am,"_ Entrica interrupted. Algoran kept going.

"—If there's any place in this town to hold survivors, that would be it. What I'm wondering, though, is what happened while I've been gone. It used to be a restaurant, but then it grew more and more centered on its side business of being a Pokémon gym. It got to where the gym was more dominant, and the people eating there were kind of just an audience. But it only ever had two floors, and I remember it looking a lot older. Then again, I haven't been here in years…you've already gone." Entrica ran up ahead as Algoran reviewed his memories, and had already slipped through a set of blue double doors when he finished.

When Algoran entered the lobby of the building with Entrica way ahead of him, he was met with…water. More water than he'd seen in one place in a long time, in fact. The room he was in now was as large as the whole ground floor of the former restaurant-turned-Pokémon-gym, so instead of a long, dimly lit room filled with tables, it was an expansive hall.

The walls were made of white marble, but they were tinted blue by what few bits of light were filtered through the stained windows. Cerulean tiles covered the once-carpeted floor, and an ankle-deep pool of water sat on top of that. There was a metal drain every dozen feet or so at the junction of walls and floor. The water was being sucked into those and likely dropped back out through portals in the white ceiling, a ceiling in which abstract paisleys had been carved. A trickling waterfall flowed from each of these circular, steel-ringed holes. The resulting towers of liquid looked just narrow enough for Algoran to stand under and have his arms stay dry. Kind of.

Near the far end of this great hall, whose wall was void of fountains and drains, a pillar made of the same stone as the long walls had its own waterfall cascading down all around it. The cylinder itself looked wider than a ring of two people arm-in-arm. Behind the occasional section of glass in the walls would be fancy-looking tables draped in white lacy cloth.

As he took in the magnificent surroundings, Algoran looked down the expanse of the corridor for Entrica. He was just enjoying how much of a relief the change in surrounding was when he felt his ankles zip behind him.

Quick squeaks came from Entrica's mouth and giggles from her mind as Algoran's face hit the water. A split second later, his hands broke his fall and he registered the wetness. It was unpleasant. He was about to swiftly stand up and try to regain his dignity. Then he had a different idea. He lay there, breath held, until Entrica's mischievous glee had tapered off.

"_Oh, that was so graceful. Well, go ahead and get back up." _She paused._ "No, come on. Now you just look stupid."_ Algoran began to feel a harsh need for an oxygen refill. _"Algoran? You can get up now. I'm done. Algoran!"_

With her sufficiently concerned for his life, Algoran got up as fast as he could while throwing as much water as his arms could push out in front of him. He assumed from the direction from which Entrica had been recently thinking that her current position was directly in front of his head. He was correct. And from her involuntary thought/speak interjection, he had hit the sweet spot. The spot where she could be hit with the most water, that is, and for a creature so small, that spot was her whole front.

"And that's what happens when you mess with a human—especially ol' Algoran." When he got no response from her, he looked down, half-expecting the same thing to be pulled on him. He instead was trapped in a glare that, though coming from near the ground, was more powerful than the most evil look a Patrat had ever glowered. "What's that for?"

_"I thought there was a rule against those kinds of jokes."_

"Well, usually, but I feel like I needed to get you back. And there it was again! I'm telling you, you may not believe it, but you care about me. You were scared you actually drowned me—" Entrica was in the process of storming off, but now she whipped around to leer at him some more.

_"Getting your hopes up isn't helping anybody." _She resumed her departure, making tiny splashes in the water layer that came up to the bottom of her stomach. Algoran stood there in squishy socks, with most of the rest of him wet now as well. He soon realized she wasn't planning on turning back.

"That hurts, seeing as we're trying to travel a hundred miles for a hope—" He stopped when a powerful jet of water knocked Entrica off her feet. She did everything she could to land on her side, likely to protect her tail. Following this, she slid through the water, almost arriving back at Algoran's feet. He immediately went on his guard. The assailant soon made itself known, and it wasn't nearly as threatening as he'd thought it might be.

It much resembled a monkey, though instead of picking at the ground, it stood as tall as Algoran on two legs. Its body and the tops of its head were covered in blue fur, which hung in mats over its hip area. Its arms and legs had a shorter coat of tan fur. This same color made most of its tail, which was at least half as long as its body height, and surrounded its mouth. Unlike the fur at the bottom of its trunk, the blue hair looked styled. It ran in curled strips down the sides and back of its head. Large blue ears poked through. A puff of white fuzz adorned its neck, and a larger decorative mound ended its tail. It seemed to be grinning, and it refused to open its eyes.

Once again, Entrica had totally changed her position while Algoran wasn't looking. She'd been recovering on the floor. Now she was sliding around the water-spraying monkey with vines in her little hands. Its legs were already constrained in multiple loops of them. It shot more water at her for distraction, then nimbly slipped its feet from their shackles.

Algoran decided to do his part in the water-war. He entered the battle running, sending splashes up behind him. The monkey had its attention on Entrica, but it quickly turned when Algoran approached.

He experienced a moment of doubt when his target let him approach when it seemingly had plenty of time to react, but he couldn't stop now. Right before his fist connected with its simian face, he felt a pressure beneath his feet. For a just a second, the monkey's ever-closed eyelids split. Beneath were deep eyes of a deeper blue than its coat. Some of the tiled floor shattered, and Algoran was lifted to the ceiling on a vertical jet of water. The monkey climbed the side as if it were easily scaling a tree trunk.

Algoran made multiple attempts to escape the ascending geyser, and in these he caught a glimpse of the claws now coming straight for him. The monkey must have kept these hidden previously, and for good reason. They were terrifyingly long and were giving off puffs of darkness.

He flinched, but as the claws should have ripped through him, he felt nothing but a brief lack of heat in his chest. The water stopped spraying. For the second time since entering this building, Algoran hit the floor hard. Surprisingly, so did the monkey. It was disoriented from its dark claws failing. This was similar to how Algoran felt about its water attack.

With some hesitation, it summersaulted to a standing position. But it was too late in its movement to stop a vine counterattack from Entrica. She picked it up and threw it into the pillar in the far end of the hall. Entrica now held an expression of cocky fury in her eyes, contrasting to the one of renewed excitement in the monkey's as it recovered shockingly quickly and sprinted back to its adversary.

Blue and green practically melted in front of Algoran's face. He took a by-product of somebody's physical assault. He threw that aside and saw, in a burst of what might have been snow, Entrica sailing out of the fray.

Entrica shot vines into dents in the ceiling caused by this battle, using these to catch herself. Then they snapped back and launched her at the infuriating attacker.

Upon her landing, Algoran saw for the quickest of instants a whirlwind of leaves spread from Entrica and engulf the monkey. Then it took him, too. He was blinded by this turmoil of green, but through the tiny gaps came an increasing gold light. It illuminated the monkey, who was revealed to have been pushed into a side wall by the wind of the leaves. The light condensed into a ball of orange-glowing energy that formed into a ball between the monkey's hands. It raised the orb, which grew faster than the popularity of Pokévine videos, over its head.

Algoran and Entrica must have both recognized the coming attack. Algoran knew it, as it had nearly sent him the way of his fellow townspeople last night. He knew Entrica knew the end result of what was pointed at her but almost nothing of her history to figure out how she knew of it. In any case, they both wanted to call to each other, in thoughts or spoken words, to get away.

Only Algoran was capable of this. Entrica was stunned from the magnitude of the technique she just pulled off. He ran blindly through the mass of leaves in the direction opposite from the oncoming storm. Still, he was knocked off his feet to a water-covered floor he knew all too well by now. There was a tremendous crash and a flash of light.

The leaves dissipated, and Algoran stood. The afterglow faded, along with the ringing in his ears. Only one fighter was left standing. The monkey searched from a distance through the hole blasted in the wall. Algoran quietly stepped past the calm victor.

He climbed through the smoldering new door and found a limp Entrica on the building's lawn. Just beside her was an almost comically Entrica-shaped slab of marble. She'd hit the wall, then the blast hit her. The portion of wall behind her survived. Then they were both pushed back, out of the room.

Algoran scooped up the defeated Pokémon. He looked back one last time at the beautiful place he was leaving. The monkey watched them leave, then closed its eyes again. Algoran left it with one hand on its hip and the other waving farewell.

}====={

Now, at noontime, Algoran scavenged through departed people's old homes, cradling Entrica's body. A while after leaving the arena the old restaurant had become, he had discerned that she was till, incredibly, alive. It seemed impossible for anyone to survive an assault like that. Then again, he had taken the same attack. And of anybody he knew, he figured he was the least likely to be able to achieve that.

There wasn't much in these places that wasn't crushed, roasted beyond recognition, or painted with rubble dust. There was, at one point, an unopened snack bar that had survived by being shielded with a cabinet door that had landed in front of it.

Algoran carried it with him and came to the conclusion that this might be the time to start considering hunting Pokémon for sustenance. The only suitable members of that party around where he was were the Pidove. Lillipup were kind of protected from being the prey of humans, since the latter tended to keep the former as pets. Purrloin were the same way, and Patrat probably carried all manner of diseases.

And this is the reasoning that led to Algoran carting his unconscious lizard in his trusty black knapsack into a place he'd heard of in childhood spooky stories. It was the place that loomed in the east, in the shadows of sunset. It was the place where children were told not to stare when a family would show up for wholesome time of bonding over dinner in the Striaton Gym and Diner. It was the place where the little children dared their friends by day to enter, but hid away from by night. It was the place where nightmares were made:

It was the Dreamyard.

But the horror stories had to all be false. It was just an ancient building, maybe, an outdoor meeting place of some sort, launched into a repair project destined for abandonment. Then the thing was left here to die. Cement walls stood forbiddingly, cracked in many places to reveal steel wiring within. It was double-floored, the bottom of which was being invaded by weed growth. The second floor was hardly existent at all.

Algoran distinctly remembered hearing about the bodies that would lie forever inside the terrible structure. For effect in these campfire stories, it was said that the Pidove would come and peck away noses and eyes of people whose souls were ripped from them by worse monsters locked in the yard. Putting these images aside, Algoran marched in after stopping for a moment to psych himself up.

But there was nothing here. No monsters, no bodies, no birds. It was as alone and silent as loneliness itself. This was especially true for recent hours, as up till now Algoran had always had some kind of background noise in his head from some of Entrica's wordless thoughts.

He really should have turned and left. He knew this. But there was something about being out here, in this place that frightened children out of sleeping that stirred a rare kind of feeling for him. Algoran felt on top of the others, even if there was no longer anybody around to be better than. He felt like there was nothing anybody could do to him that could scare him. The only things that he would cringe from would be those of his darkened nightmares, and the Dreamyard was no such thing.

So he snooped a little. He picked through tall grasses and turned over lumps of concrete. In most places, there was nothing of much interest. However, coming down a flight of rusted metal stairs (he'd been exploring the top floor, but found it too rickety for comfort), Algoran spotted something shining under the staircase.

To most, it would have looked like nothing more than a glittery rock. But Algoran was drawn to it. Without even knowing what it was, he added it to the accumulation of items in his bag. Just from walking around outside the restaurant, his collection had grown by one scrap of food, one rock-ish thing, and one half-dead Entrica. He gently took her arms and made them hold the stone close to her body so it wouldn't bounce around. It felt fragile.

Unnerved by the silence, both around him and in his head, Algoran began to talk to himself.

"What to do now," he asked the breeze, which smelled of charcoal. "Should probably eat this. It's as good now as it'll ever be." So he unwrapped the bar and broke it in half. He dropped once piece onto Entrica's pile in case she wanted it when she woke up…also in case she could digest stuff like this. She was a half-plant, half-lizard child, and this food was made for humans and specific species of Pokémon alone. It was worth a try.

For having had nothing to eat all day, the bar was surprisingly filling. Maybe Algoran's nerves were keeping him from being all too hungry.

A small bit of panic set in, as Algoran had nothing to do. When there was nothing on his mind, the memories of all that he'd lost would flood back in. He could feel them trying. But then, his stimulation arrived.

Entrica's thought-voice, mid-shout, shocked Algoran out of his depression. He felt frantic movement from within his bag, and, realizing who screamed, threw the cover flap open. Entrica stuck her head out, her eyes somewhat panicky. Her fear subsided.

She relaxed somewhat and climbed out to drop to the ground. "_Ugh…that wasn't fair at all."_ Without visibly acknowledging Algoran's efforts to keep her safe, Entrica strutted back into the Dreamyard's main building, which Algoran was just leaving.

Now Algoran was more stunned at Entrica's behavior immediately waking than zapped by the scare of her half-yell. Not only did she even care that Algoran had carried her for the hour she'd been unconscious, but she was also ready to go right away. Hadn't he survived the same attack, barely, with a dozen broken parts?

"There's nothing in there," he called after her, hiding the offense he'd taken. "Also, did you even get hit by that attack at the end? I did, and you were in much better shape than I was when you recovered from it."

"When in the world did you take a Focus Blast? Anyway, you're underestimating me again." Then, as Algoran could do to her, she read his thoughts. "As for what I'm doing, that monkey's not going to be so smug for much longer. I know how to get Pokémon to come out. I'm going to practice on whatever's in there, then we're going straight back to that place and teaching it who's better."

}====={

Algoran, worn out from all that had happened, sat down and leaned against the outer wall of the Dreamyard's broken building. Now that he had time to rest, he would. He trusted that anything that endangered him while he dozed would jeopardize Entrica too, so she would take care of it.

He quickly found that while he could relax, there would be no sleep for him right now. Sounds of Entrica's whips cracking and her opponents' falling cries kept him awake. He could even hear snips of her thought as she taunted each wild Pokémon with unintelligible squawks from her mouth and another, wordless, language in her head.

Just as Algoran began to seriously question how long it would take for Entrica to become as strong as she wanted to become, another presence just sort of…drifted up to him. He looked in all directions for the source of the deep, new thoughts before he found it to be hovering above his head.

He was immediately reminded of a childhood friend who'd moved away to another region while they were still young. She had always said that Pokémon as a whole were "too chunky," and that she'd like to see a pink one with a floral pattern. If only she'd come to the Dreamyard while she was still in Unova, because here was a floating, Entrica-sized, pink, flower-spotted lump of a Pokémon. It was good that it had the psychic ability to levitate, as its four stubs of legs couldn't possibly support it. (Though, knowing Entrica, any amount of leg strength was possible.) A little pink flap similar in shape to its legs held a spot that would seem natural for a mouth. Two large black eyes blinked sweetly at Algoran.

That was all he saw before his own eyes closed.

}====={

The great black shadow lunged for him again, as it had in all the nightmares of his past. But now, it reached out of the darkness to illuminate an unholy mess of claws, red eyes, shadowy whips and spinning saws. Just before it struck, its vision was disrupted by a puff of pink dust. It was the Pokémon from another dream…no, the part that wasn't a dream.

Algoran was lucid.

For the first time in his life, Algoran had control of a dream he was in. The best part, he thought (but, really, it was the same as saying it out loud), was that he could make up a new world without wandering aimlessly. He remembered the outside, what was happening. His savior from the shadow was indeed the pink lump, who now told him through the odd knowledge one can have whilst dreaming that it was the one who put him to sleep.

Its name was Munna. It had sensed that Algoran was plagued by a recurring nightmare, and it had come to do what all sharing its collective consciousness do—enter a bad dream and eat the cause for their own sustenance. In the process, it said, the saved sleeper would often become aware of the dream. Algoran was also to experience this phenomenon vastly more often.

Munna stayed by his side as he drifted through bliss memories. He was back in his little house, living his old life. There was his mother, Amirissa, back from the university, even his little sister was there…and his father. The faces of all his family were clear as day, but his father's was in shadow. He wore a dark coat that reached his feet and Algoran could make out the shape of a beret-like hat, but the face was invisible in a dream kind of way. Still, Algoran felt as though he could finally ask that one question of his dad he'd wanted to for so long, and he tried; he went up to the towering figure, he opened his mouth to speak, and then the man interrupted in a little girl's voice:

"Hey! I said we're going back. Do you just not listen?"


	4. A Quick Schism

**Ah, this is is a shorter one. Up till now, the word count per chapter has been steadily increasing. That streak ends tonight. Really. It's 2:30 AM. And here I sit, on a Tuesday night, uploading fanfiction. But that's my problem. Anywho, I think there's actually more arguing and combat here than there was in the last chapter. So if you enjoyed that, have just a fantastic time with this. I'm trying something new to avoid spoiling the chapter even though I want to talk about it to you...so stay tuned, why don't you.**

* * *

_"I tell you what we'll do later, and you go and fall asleep._ Entrica strode determinedly away from Algoran, who was still waking up into the harshest of realities. _Stand up and follow me. I might need you for this."_

Algoran put aside Entrica's possibility of the slightest remote care for him in favor of trying to accept that he could never live out the fantasy in the dream. Until the next lucid one, of course. He looked forward to it. In the meantime, now that Entrica had successfully pulled him away from his remnants of family, he thought it was time to call her out on her attitude.

As per usual, she was far ahead of him by the time he started moving. He brushed his hand through his hair in sleepy exasperation. This led him to that leaf again. He put that situation aside for later.

"Entrica, wait up for just a second." Algoran was fully prepared for Entrica to snidely halt for precisely one second. But she allowed him to catch up.

_"Something you need to say?"_ Her response reminded Algoran that she probably had some idea of what he wanted to tell her already.

"Yes, actually. I would think if you've come this far and are willing to jump back into a fight that you're planning on continuing till we get to the city. Right?"

_"It's not like you can make it there on your own."_

"Uh-huh. But I've being doing a lot for you, and all you've done is shoot back insults and sarcasm and constantly act all superior. I think a 'thank you' is in order after I carried you in this bag for an hour after you were unconscious." But Algoran still hadn't said what he set out to say. "What makes you think you're so much better me?"

Algoran had just gotten through the third point of his argument when Entrica, to put it lightly, exploded.

_"WHAT MAKES ME BETTER?! What makes _you_ think we should be equal? Let's think. Can you manage that? In my short lifetime, I've safely survived being struck by lightning, an earthquake, and three floods. All things I've seen, with my own eyes, kill dozens of humans. You're not much tougher, you know!_

_"And, oh, I'm so sorry to have burdened you with my weight in the bag that never seems to get any heavier no matter how much stuff you put in it. Guess it wouldn't with me, either. If you don't recall, and I'm happy to jog your memory, the only reason I needed care was because I absorbed a Focus Blast! Do you know how powerful that attack is? Oh, of course you do, you were on the brink of death after taking one! I was just fine! I think I, of all things, have a right to be a little arrogant now and then!"_

Algoran was stunned for a moment. Then he had to challenge the behavior of Entrica's that he just couldn't figure out. "Well, if I'm so useless, why do you even keep me around? I'm just dead weight, aren't I? Go on by yourself. I'm _sure _you'll be fine!"

_"Then I will!"_ She stormed off in such a stormy way that rain might have almost fallen from the dry clouds above. Algoran watched her as she pulled herself through the gym's wreckage hole and back into danger. He entered a nearby apartment complex to scavenge and be alone.

A while later, a thump came from outside. It was a long time coming, as Algoran's mind had been bombarded with Entrica's involuntary thoughts while she combated whatever was in there. He peered out the window and saw the water monkey constrained in vines and wriggling on the ground.

"I'm still not coming to help you," he reiterated.

_"Good."_

He sighed and got back to his own business.

}====={

Entrica scuttled through the wreckage of the gym's walls as fast as she could. As if expecting her arrival, her water-using opponent leapt down from the ceiling. Entrica came in here expecting something like this, and she quickly jumped out of the way. The blue-furred thing rolled onto its feet and brandished its tail once again.

This time, Entrica was ready. She turned so her tail leaf would get the full water blast, and the stream deflected around her head. She retaliated by spinning for momentum and slapping the sender across the legs and face with vines. Wasting no time, she dashed in closer, avoiding rapid swipes from claws. She crashed into her target's leg, bringing the former crashing to the floor. Entrica took the time to prepare a knot of vines, and then slung it around her victim's face when it stood up. With it struggling to see and move, Entrica finished it off by constraining its feet. She considered the fight won.

Fed up with it, Entrica dragged the struggling mass of green, with some difficulty, over to the hole it had blasted earlier and deftly tossed it through. She turned from the dust it kicked up upon hitting the outside road.

"I'm still not coming to help you," Algoran insisted from the distance.

_"Good."_

A clicking sound came from the far wall, beyond the pillar. A diagonal staircase had slid from the paneling. Entrica ascended into the most beautiful place she'd ever seen.

It was a room logically the size of the one below, but it seemed some much larger. It was coated with foliage of all kind. The floor grass was lush and thick, there were quarters of tree trunks in the corners, and ivy hung on the walls. Vines hung limply from the moss-coated ceiling, each bearing tiny gold flowers. Above the thick white pillar from downstairs stood a mighty trunk that reached from the room's bottom to top.

And the pheromones—all the plants were giving off their sweet scent, a signal to others like them that they were content. Then they became excited. Their excretions intensified. A metallic thud was followed by an organic one. A metal cover had slammed closed over the staircase, and another assailant had made his entrance.

He was a forester like Entrica, that much she could tell, and he even held itself highly. But it was a cheap confidence, not at all like the rich history all Regals-of-the-Forest poured out through their attitudes. With more warning than the last had given, this one lunged.

All it took was a few steps to avoid. Entrica knew just what to do. She extended a vine for each hand and whipped with them. To her shock, the forester countered with the very same technique. The end of his whip grazed the side of her face. He had stunningly perfect form and follow-through. He stopped her whips dead in their swing, giving Entrica only a second to realize what was stuck to the end now mere inches from her eye.

She was blown across the room by the explosion. Her ears were still ringing when she spotted through hazy vision the rain of small seeds arcing, now falling. They were definitely more grenades—Entrica sensed a distinct lack of any baby plants inside. She, in a hasty attempt to escape, vine-pulled herself onto a high tree branch as the ground she'd just been standing on was racked with blasts. Strangely, the fires these caused fizzled out almost instantly.

The forester quickly targeted her again, this time directly. He scaled the ivy and tree trunks as if he had lived there his whole life. He propelled himself off a wall with his feral jaws held wide for a ferocious bite. Entrica slipped off the branch to dangle beneath it, holding on with just her atrophied hands. She hadn't had time to grow vines that would more sturdily do the job.

Her assailant sailed over her position and barely kept conscious after crashing into the wall. But he took his situation and reversed it. Her extended his claws and dug them into Entrica's tail as he fell. She let out a sharp squeak of pain and let go of the branch. They both shatteringly hit the floor. Entrica was slower to get up, faced with a new and gripping exhaustion.

She knew what was happening. It was a basic ability of her kind. Her energy was being siphoned to fuel her opponent. It was a vicious strategy. As she predicted, the simian stood menacingly over before grasping her by the tail.

It was at this point that Entrica thanked her biology. As the tails of her family were essential for energy intake and needed to protected, a reflex was triggered. As soon as the unfortunate thing lifted her, the tail slapped him in an involuntary spasm. Entrica escaped the forester's clutches.

Both she and it were distracted when a series of metallic clangs came in from the back of the room. They were muffled through the walls. At least, they were until a metal door previously hidden in vegetation fell in. Algoran followed, bearing a bent metal pipe.

The sound of the connection of this pipe with the monkey's head was absorbed quickly into the trees. His body crumped like a stack of blocks with its base kicked out.

_"I could have finished it . And I told you to leave me alone."_

"You did not say that. You said you were going off on your own."

_"Same thing. I didn't want you to come back."_

"Obviously. But it's hard to ignore your sounds of pain when they're coming through my head." Algoran was exiting through the newly permanent door when Entrica saw fit to enlist his help once again.

_"Knowing you, you'd probably have a better time in here with me than you would out there by yourself. Stay."_

* * *

**Eh? You see? Now there's a note at the bottom of the chapter, too. I do hope you read the whole thing and didn't just skip to the end to see how it turned out. This is my favorite chapter of the four uploaded so far, just because of all the EPIC COMBAT (to be read with a deep echo). So, the two argued, they made up, kinda, and this won't be the last of their disagreements. It would be pretty odd if it was, seeing as...well...they don't quite like each other very much. Can you tell? I sure hope you can, or I've done something horribly, horribly wrong. But if you'll excuse me, the Prime Minister of Suspiciously Unnamed Country demands my genius.  
**


	5. Firefight

**In an attempt to make Algoran more relatable and realistic, I made sure to let you know how scared he really is in certain situations. That's all for up here. Make sure you read what I have to say at the end, though, because it's rather important. If you don't you won't have a good idea of what's going on.**

* * *

Algoran and Entrica entered the upper room in the same way as they did the one below—via hidden staircase.

It was made to be cave-like, and slow fountains of magma in the walls dribbled into large puddles. The place where anther pillar should have been instead was an intricate metal fountain. Above a tall vent led into darkness and, from what Algoran could see of it, had been repeatedly scorched. As with the former rooms, the two windows, this time stained blood-red, looked stitched in and out-of-place. They along with the melted rock created a suspenseful lighting of fiery crimson wisps. Algoran was in awe.

_"I hate it."_

"Now, that just seems intolerant." Entrica's bullet of a glance jogged Algoran's memories of her weaknesses. "Oh, right. But you still have to appreciate the color, the effort that must have gone into this…"

_"You know, I would _love_ to leave you here to admire it…that's…I…"_ Entrica seemed to have lost her wits. And with good reason—the fountain had just begun blasting identical streams of fire into the ceiling duct.

Algoran lost his sight for a moment in the layer of smoke that enveloped him. When it cleared, there, standing proudly on the top spout, was yet another monkey-like Pokémon. This one looked less cheeky than the other two, but it shared their physique. The main differences here were their current problem's red fur and rounded features, including his head fur.

It did know what it was doing. It leapt from the structure in a coat of fire. Algoran grabbed Entrica and sprinted out of the way.

"I have no idea how to beat this guy."

"_Relax. I can do this. Just be a distraction."_

Algoran was just a little hesitant to follow her orders immediately and blindly. He didn't have much of a choice when he spotted the fireball gliding toward his feet. He and Entrica dodged it in different directions. The projectile dissipated on the ground, but knee-high spouts of flame forced Algoran further away.

The monkey lit its entire body on fire again and lunged for Algoran. He was surprised at his reflexes when, without thinking, he pounded its face in with the pipe. It stumbled backward. He took a second to glance at Entrica, who was concentrating on something in the opposite corner of the cave. Out of its mouth the monkey spit a torpedo-like shot at the ceiling. Large embers and boulders landed below the impact site. Algoran felt more than a few of these searing bits prick his skin.

It had been a major part of Algoran's mostly transparent plan to intimidate the monkey with the large pipe, but that was just not happening. Instead, the fearless creature found time to take a breather. Literally. It took in a great breath of air and held it. Before it exhaled, a very unnatural light with no discernible origin filled the room. Algoran's curiosity told him to look around and figure this out, but the rest of him saw the preparations for whatever was in the monkey's lungs to come on out.

"_That's right. Keep on doing that," _Entrica thought from her corner. It was unclear whether that was directed at Algoran or herself, for encouragement. For all Algoran knew about her, it could have been at the enemy.

Said enemy must have also heard her thinking, based on what it did after letting loose with its built up energy. Algoran, seeing the danger coming right at him, ducked behind one of the fallen rocks. He sensed the heat and saw five tendrils of fire deflect around the stone. When they subsided, he reentered the fight. But the fight had left his area.

Instead, Entrica was being targeted. Of course, she showed no concern whatsoever. Algoran had been putting up with this, at least somewhat, but now of all time really seemed like the time to panic and run.

The monkey charged, but it didn't tackle Entrica or anything like that. It dove into the ground and rapidly burrowed out of sight. Entrica did start looking to evade it. It burst up from below and swiped at the air with extended claws. Entrica constricted it thoroughly in vines and progressively tightened her grip. Algoran had run close enough to their exchange now to see her smirk.

That confident feeling was soon to vanish, though. Algoran spotted something Entrica didn't. The mass of red fur that was this Pokémon's tail snuck out between the coils of vines and wiggled tauntingly. It blasted a flaming missile at the stone fountain. The structure pretty much evaporated. Pebbles, and, more importantly, fire, shot all over the place. Entrica lost her grip in surprise. Algoran would have too, if he was contributing at that time. Still, the monkey's body crumpled on the floor.

The blaze spraying from the lost fountain was different than the orange fires the battle had been dominated with. These were varying shades of white and yellow. The continuously-torched rock walls began to glow and then bubble. Soon, patches began to bubble and melt. The magma-falls, no longer cooped up in their paths, ran out of control. Smoke gathered into an almost opaque cloud and lava pooled into dangerous ponds.

Entrica glanced at Algoran, and they made eye contact. He knew she saw the same thing. Though the fire exit door, or at least its outline, had become visible with the rock liquefying. It was blocked off in multiple ways.

"There's still the chimney," Algoran suggested. He tried to be calm and collected about it, but in truth his heart was like hoof beats in his head and he could have thrown up had he eaten properly lately.

Entrica took the vines and ran them up the massive pipe. The flames had petered out by now, but the cave was still a fiery pit. In a mental haze, she had left the ends of some in the below room. This proved to be a lethal mistake.

Fire raced up the plant ropes as it would on a short fuse. Had Algoran not dug his nails into them and torn them straight apart, Entrica might not have done so well. His actions were not without consequence-Entrica let out the loudest squeal he'd heard so far, and this led him realize he might have just done the equivalent of chopping off an arm. Three, in fact. The theory was further backed by the wordless shock that blasted in from her mind. With that, her thoughts vanished. Now, having pulled herself and Algoran into the chimney and passed out, she had effectively left Algoran with a climb. He griped the vines and braced himself against the metal inside.

Entrica got sealed in the bag again for safekeeping. Taking self-instruction from the few pictures he'd seen of mountain-climbing, Algoran inched up the shaft.

At the top, the vet bent horizontally and led outside through a fence grate. It was weakened from the disaster, and Algoran had little trouble knocking it open.

He crawled out onto the flat, concrete roof of the place. A few assorted metal structures stood, most bent, in corners. A low rumble sounded from above, signaling a change in weather could be imminent.

Algoran dropped a few feet off the side onto the highest level of the emergency stairs. The platform was melted away right around the bottom of the doorframe. He looked down and saw a black and red puddle on the ground, steaming.

With the occasional warm raindrop arriving here and there, Algoran left for the edge of town. His reasoning was that the biggest blast in his hometown had been in the middle of the village, and it was probably the same way here. Therefore, a sturdy shelter would be on the edge of the city. The truth was, the epicenter for the whole thing had been Nuvema Town, so the southeast corner of Striaton City would have been the worst place. Luckily, Algoran was headed northwest anyway, so it didn't really matter that he hadn't figured that out.

What he came to was, as would be the case far enough away from the downtown of any city, a less well-off neighborhood. The houses were smaller, most of them made primarily of wood rather than the bricks of the large complexes.

While the exterior had deteriorated significantly, it was still decently surviving on the inside. This was especially the case in its innermost rooms. Algoran dropped the bag and Entrica onto a cracked kitchen counter and looked for a way to revive her again. He dug through his collection, as that was what surrounded her when she woke up before. Oddly enough, the yellow stone was nowhere to be found. It was probably just because he had too much stuff. Then he stopped and considered what he was doing.

"Maybe I'll just let her sleep in till tomorrow," he muttered. "Not like she'd care either way."

Algoran searched throughout the house for a bedroom, and found the living room. It was conveniently in the area of the house that had taken the least damage. He wrapped Entrica in her tail, noticing it twitch when he touched it. She was still alive, probably. After this thought, he was forced to come to terms with his uncertainty of her life's status, meaning he subconsciously accepted the possibility of presently carting around a dead body. Nevertheless, he gently set her on a cut up throw pillow and dropped himself on the couch. It was crispy from heat and dusted with rubble, which Algoran drowsily brushed off.

To some, it might have been bare-bones sleeping conditions. But after and compared to all that Algoran had done today, it might as well have been a four-star hotel in the heart of Castelia City. He'd never been one to easily sleep through thunderstorms, but again, it was musical next to raging fires, cries of exertion, and the occasional period of eerie silence. Algoran was off to sleep in minutes.

* * *

I put this news as a side note in my profile, but it occurs to me that isn't necessarily the best place to show it so lots of people can see. It's here in an end-of-chapter note just so you know. Some stuff has started happening in my real life that isn't all good and demands my somewhat immediate attention. Fanfiction-ing is obviously one of the things I'm going to have to drop while I get things sorted out. Therefore, I'm going to be absent for a while. I'll get back to this as soon as I get everything straightened out, and I predict it'll take two to four weeks. That's just my thinking, so don't count on either number. I will return with a new character for this story and the prelude to a backstory. Look forward to it, and again, I'll be here as soon as I can be. So says The Masked Crusader.


	6. Suspended Revival

**Well, grabble my grub and call me a Gurdurr, but it's good to be back! Don't y'all be getting all worked up over me. I was merely disgruntled when spitting heartfelt farewells and made the whole situation sound more serious than it was. I got everything squared away and now I'm back to dump more fanfiction on your pretty little heads. So I promised a new character, and here he is. Here they are, if you want to count the last paragraph. There is just a leeeetle backstory here, and a whole bucket of it coming the next chapter. Stay tuned! (Please. This is all I have. And while you're at it, how 'bout a review/like/follow/ favorite/subscribe/comment/ reblog/retweet/share?)**

* * *

Algoran was awoken at a time that seemed much too early by an almighty crash. After lying there, startled, for a while, he was prepared to go back to sleep in hope of another lucid dream. Or possibly in dread of a new form of nightmare. (He expected there to be plenty of material for one in his brain with the events of the past 24 hours.) He soon realized he would be getting no more sleep right then, as a continual rusting sound could be heard. Its source seemed to be the attached kitchen.

Entrica had awoken and dug through Algoran's bag. Now she sat on her pillow, nibbling through what appeared to be her third Rawst Berry. And a piece of the counter had cracked off and now lay in shards on the floor.

"Where did you get those?" Algoran asked, sleepily and without expression.

_"Your hair's a mess. AND, you ripped off my vines! You can't just _do_ that. And you_ _never got rid of that leaf. Do something with yourself."_ Algoran felt his head, and sure enough, there they were. The two of them. _"If you're wondering, I found these in the grass room before we went upstairs. And before you say anything else, I'm an expert at hiding things."_

"I guess so. Look, can you just stay here and not go digging? I'm going to try and get us some company."

_'Fine with me. I doubt you have anything interesting anyway.'_

"If you say so." Algoran thrust his hand into the deepest regions of his black bag and pulled out his very own, very old Pokéball. This was the reason he'd reentered his house before they left Nuvema Town. However, the damage done to the outside of the device could have easily carried over to the storage inside. This would be the deciding factor of whether or not his oldest, best friend would see the light of day again.

_'That's dramatic,'_ Entrica commented, having picked up Algoran's intentions, which he made sound more epic in his head.

"Leave the rest of my stuff alone," he responded sternly. To his surprise, which he tried very hard to bottle up, Entrica reconsidered saying what she was about to and turned her eyes away. He left her to her meal without a thought of his own.

It must have taken at least a half-hour to get back to the center of town, but that was where the Pokémon Center was. It was in better shape that the one he'd "experienced," which was a good sign.

Inside, Algoran could almost see the people. Coming and going, chattering indistinctly, coming desperate and leaving happy. He entered slowly and somberly.

Taking care not to aggravate the system in any way, Algoran set the ball in the holder. Unsurprisingly, nothing happened. He entered a back room. Inside were rows and rows of computer terminals. For good luck, he stepped up to the middle-ish one in the middle-ish row. Kicking the base lit the screen with the spacey black-and-white start-up screen.

It had been a while since he'd accessed his account, but he was in after trying a few different passwords. There, in the hard drive known as Box 1, was his pet and his version of many children's Lillipup.

Lillipup were adorable little Pokémon commonly given to children as loving companions. When Algoran was about the age most of his friends were trusted with the Puppy Pokémon, his father gave him something special. It was a Pokémon only living on the plains of Route 2—the one just outside of Striaton City, Algoran realized. He was pretty close to Stormburst's native home.

Algoran received a Blitzle. He was a tiny zebra—a pony at best—with a jagged whit mane ending in a unicorn's horn. He was clearly black with white stripes, not the other way around. His eyes were blue and yellow, and he was an Electric-Type. That was the important thing. Algoran was put in charge of a creature that could shoot off lightning at will.

He showed Stormburst off to his friends, and used to even bring it into the grasses outside the town to either zap, miss, and scare off Patrat. As Algoran remembered, they were inseparable. As they grew up, though, they drifted apart. Storm grew more attached to Algoran's little sister. He must've just liked kids. Algoran, on the other hand, ended up mostly uninterested in having a Pokémon of any kind. Maybe he was subconsciously super closed-off to Entrica, and she was picking that up without realizing it, and that's why she kept being so irritable. He was getting off-track.

There, on the dim, flickering screen, was the low-quality pixel image of a Blitzle. The Electrified Pokémon. Stormburst.

Algoran raced into the lobby again and felt the floor vibrating. A low growl came from the healing station and, after an eternity of suspense, tiny light bulbs deep in the Pokéball lit up and a world-famous glockenspiel jingle played. The activity wound down and stuttered. The lights went out.

He tentatively reached for the ball and held it in both his hands. It was surrounded in fading warmth. In the dark Center, in silent hope, Algoran aimed at the floor and gently pushed the white activation button in.

After a hesitation, the color hemispheres clicked apart. They refused to go any further by their own power. Algoran pried the dimensional doors open, releasing a brilliant white flash and the glowing equestrian shape of Stormburst. Algoran's only Pokémon materialized out of the light.

Cautiously, the zebra's eyes opened. Despite his uncertainty of whether his connection with Pokémon was just for Entrica, he opened up his mind to Stormburst. The change in the latter was sudden. His bright eyes went from darting around the room in confusion and fear to locking onto Algoran's with trust.

"Storm?" His ears perked up and twitched at his nickname. "Remember me? I's Algoran. I know we haven't really been around each other in a while..." His old pet tilted its head, and he appeared to be hanging to every word Algoran spoke.

"Maybe I am getting through to you in your head." Algoran stopped talking and listened intently. But he didn't do so with his ears-he listened for Entrica's voice. In activating that part of his brain, he felt Stormburst's unfiltered emotion come through.

Algoran felt slightly silly for expecting clear words, but maybe Blitzle weren't as mentally advanced as some others. It was enough to experience the long-time connection with the Pokémon he'd known for so long on this deeper level. But now it was time to ruin Storm's innocence with the knowledge of what had happened to the world.

"Storm, I need you to help me out." He let his memories of the previous day flow into Stormburst's mind. "Entrica and I could use some extra power, and I bet you can do it. Are you up for it?"

Stormburst blinked and stared blankly in the general direction of Algoran's face. Then he reared up on his back legs, and lightning sparked from his front hooves when they landed again. He let out a harsh, squealing whinny punctuated by static crackling. "Atta-boy. Follow me."

Dumbfounded-ness radiated from Stormburst and brought Algoran's attention back to the extremities at hand. He had learned through the course of the previous day to not let these notions get to him.

Entrica was, shockingly, not burrowing deep into the sack when Algoran returned. She could be found mining a full cave in the ceiling. Her head peeped out, covered in dust.

'_Why in the world would you bring THAT?'_

"What in the world do you mean, 'that'?"

Entrica groaned and lowered herself out of her burrow. '_Do you not know what a Sparkle-hoof is?'_

"I do. It's a Blitzle."

'_Sparkle-hoof. Anyway, they look appealing, sure, but when they see you, they turn into vicious killers.'_

Algoran looked into Stormburst's gleaming eyes and then back at Entrica's. "He sees both of us and he's not doing anything. I doubt he's much of a killer."

'_Yeah, well, I expect you've only seen the electric side, then. Just wait till-what're you calling him? Stormburst?-wait till Stormburst ignites. Then we'll get a real show. And do you mean to tell me you just went out for a walk, found a Sparkle-hoof, and convinced it to come? They can't be reasoned with; you'll find that out soon enough—'_

"I've had him since I was little," Algoran said harshly, more than a little annoyed now at Entrica's distrust. "Never once have I seen him on fire, and never once has he tried to hurt another living thing. Except when I would go out and train him, in which case he's very obedient."

Entrica closed her eyes and rubbed the lids. _'Uuuuggggghhhh...just–-just keep him away from me.'_

Algoran shrugged as she went back into the ceiling. He patted Storm's neck and whispered, "She'll get used to you. I'm sure. Just try and keep your distance, okay?" His mane flashed yellow. "Entrica? What're you dong up there?"

'_...Planting seeds. Once we leave, they'll start leeching any usable energy from this house and pouring it into me.'_

"If you say so. I'm all ready to go, so when you're ready, just meet us outside."

Algoran took Stormburst into the fields just outside of town and had him zap at a few Pidove. Entrica finally appeared from the old house just before the roof fell in.

It surprised Algoran that he _wasn't_ surprised by this. Between all the stuff Entrica could do and the stuff a broken world could do, it was bound to happen at some point.

'_So it turns out the energy coming from that place might have partially been the forces holding it up. On the other hand, I feel just fantastic.'_ She trotted off down the road.

"Oh, hey," Algoran commented, spotting a mangled road sign. "This is Route 2, which leads to Nacrene City. And that means we're getting really close to Castelia."

'_Get moving, then._' Entrica disappeared around a corner, and Algoran and Stormburst followed.

}====={

Their trek down the winding, forested Route 2 was uneventful. The strangest thing about it was that the farther they went, the more it was looking like its old self. It wasn't as tortured as the Route 1 was to begin with, and now there was even a sparse wood surrounding the beaten path. Every once in a while, a tweet or insect hiss could be heard.

Adding to the sounds later was the rushing babble of a clear stream. Algoran and crew arrived at a crystal-clear brook at midmorning, stopping to stumblingly take drinks from its waters. He could only guess they had become so fresh due to the brook's speed, which may have washed away soot and pollution from the disaster.

The downside to having a quenched thirst for a while was that, as the autumnal season had arrived, it cooled them significantly. Algoran pulled his jacket tighter around his body. The wind picked up. While he could look back the way they'd come and see the outside edges of the black cloudy ceiling, the sky was still darkening with an approaching storm.

"Just what we need," Algoran said. "Another rainstorm right now." But they still pushed on. Eventually, when the stress of walking absolutely everywhere caught up with him and his feet began brutally murdering him with axes, Stormburst stopped to allow Algoran a seat on his back.

"I'm telling you, he's not trustworthy," Entrica kept insisting through his entire ride.

Each time he would reply, "Well, when he rebels, I'll be sure to let you know about it."

Something about Stormburst's presence just seemed to intimidate other Pokémon. There were a lot more in the grasses of this route, but they steered clear of Entrica's and Storm's path. Especially the Pidove.

This VIP travel let all three arrive in Nacrene City much more quickly than Algoran thought they would have. By this point on Route 2, everything was intact. There had been a small wooden boardwalk across the river, trees were densely packed around town, and each building was in one piece. An elegant stone sign at the city limit read "NACRENE CITY: _'A pearl of a place.'_"

Rather than traditional housing, the town was populated by small warehouses lining the roads. Each was in good shape, but their windows were dark. There was still no signs of other human life. All alone on a hill overlooking the city, a forbidding white stone mansion stood.

"What do you suppose they mean by that? 'A pearl of a place,'" Algoran asked ambiguously, trying to make some sort of conversation with Entrica. She'd remained mostly silent the whole trip.

'_Who knows? Maybe they go Cloyster fishing.'_

"There's no Cloyster in this part of the world."

'Well, then why'd you ask me for—'

"Just trying to get a conversation going-"

'_We've been just fine not talking, why should we—'_

"I just thought it might be nice t-OOF." Stormburst threw Algoran off his back and onto the city street. He landed with his face to sky. While it was certainly good to not have his face pressed in the asphalt, he kind of wished he wasn't watching what was happening above. Stormburst had a good reason to get scared and now run about in a panic.

The stormy clouds were circling in a great turbulent centrifuge positioned directly above the city, and, so it seemed, Algoran. He clearly saw a burst of fire in the storm's eye. From this a shining meteor came streaking to the ground.

Algoran felt explosive wind billow past him when the whatever-it-was made contact with the surface. Soon after, he detected thumps that he could only assume were Entrica and Stormburst having a similar experience.

He got himself on his feet as quickly and with as much dignity as he could muster, only to make eye contact and feel his stomach drop into his legs. The vibrant blue eyes gazing into his own belonged to none other than the dragon he'd been trying so hard to forget.


	7. The Dragon and The Phantom

**Bejeezus, I should get an earlier start on these things. But I told muself to get this uploaded today, and of course I would end up writing most of the chapter in the middle of the night. But I won't bother you with that. Just, if the ending seems a teensy bit rushed, and I guarantee it does, that's why. But LOOK! Another battle scene! 'Course, to get to it you have to plug through a year's worth of Legendary backstory, but make the best of it. It answers questions. Also, I'm aware that it's now spring break for some, so I'm thinking of trying to slap more chapters than usual into this tale for people to read while they suddenly have more free time than they know what to do with. Enough of me. Go read.**

* * *

A swirling storm and aggressive winds seemed to have followed the dragon into Nacrene City. It glared down at Algoran with glowing blue eyes that illuminated its face. The light tapered off in a long, flowing white mane. Two vast, furry wings ending in claws folded up to its sides. Its abdomen was just as fuzzy. Fire in its cone-shaped tail lit its back and clawed legs. The whole thing towered over Algoran, being as tall as the houses here.

_"Curse my aim."_ This new, resonant voice slipped into Algoran's mind like a breeze through a window. The only discernible quality it had was that deep echo—the sound lacked a gender (or rather, it kind of sounded like many men and women speaking at once), an age, or any other identifying features. _Such power, _wasted_ by missing._

Algoran's mouth involuntarily opened slightly as he beheld, wide-eyed, the monster he now loathed. He was oblivious to Entrica trying to communicate something to him, focused only on the sickening fear he felt and now, the rising anger and hate.

_"I need to know why you still live,_" the being demanded, now directly addressing Algoran, _while everything around you burns._

Algoran brought all the energy he had into his throat to quietly claim, "Luck."

_"That was supposed to utterly destroy you! Or, at the very least, render it impossible for you to leave your home until nature took care of you. But, much to my dislike,"-_now it glowered at Entrica-"_A bit of nature indeed _has_…taken care of you"._

_"Trust me, it wasn't my decision."_ Entrica was having a much easier time with this than Algoran was.

_"I suppose you'd like to believe that. You're lying to yourself, you know."_

_"I could kill you right now: my Growth is still working, and you don't even know what I have in store-"_

_"A bluff of the lowest degree."_

"What—what are you trying to _do?_"

The dragon took a deep, flowing breath. "_My name is legend—Reshiram. It's only natural I protect that. Recently, my position came under fire. By whom? I'm afraid it's an even longer tale than why I laid waste to this world._

_ "As I'm certain you know from mythology, I used to be in unity with my other. Two twins made us of their own flesh and bone. It was a perfect harmony—until it fell into dissonance. Each twin sought their own view of the world. The elder found the truth to be the mightier, and the younger thought individual ideals more valuable. With discord in their relationship, my other and I could no longer exist as one. We split into myself and my other, Zekrom. _

_ "The energy released from our separation left an anomaly, which was filled by another force. It lacked a name, allowing the ancients to corrupt a word in their language and call it Kyurem. It represents the absence of unity, the disharmony. And it has attempted several times to reinvent that peace—by eliminating my other and me. So, I took it upon myself to end its existence first. It's a justice. Kyurem was a mistake, living only by an argument._

Algoran had worked himself up further and now shouted in a fit of hate and anger, "Then why did you have to kill so many people and destroy our whole home?!"

_"Kyurem was there. It appeared in your homeland. I had been searching for it for centuries. Having finally found it, I took my opportunity. You should already know this—and, with your connection, you'll tell me where it's gone. Once again, it evaded my wrath."_

"My… connection?"

_"There's no use hiding anything. You have a connection, a special sort of telepathy, with us. With Pokémon, if you will. Your bond is especially strong with Kyurem. It's undeniable."_

"I'm denying it. I've never seen Kyurem before, and I definitely haven't talked to it."

_"Well, finding it went well without your input, so I guess that's just how it will have to remain. I only wish I had the motivation to get rid of you myself. But I have to keep my energy up for this search. I'll introduce you to an awfully hard worker of mine. I believe you've even met her before? Algoran, Entrica, meet_ _Naluahst."_

Soon after Reshiram blasted off into the thunderheads above, the ring of fire it left fizzled out. Left behind was a squared-off shadow with...four long appendages, one from each corner. The background shadow from Accumula Town floated out of the shadows. It revealed itself to resemble a golden sarcophagus, with a smoky trail ending in a large hand streaming from its corners. The facial area was bordered by jade and other shining metals. They cradled more grey smoke, which itself contained two glittering red eyes and a smile full of serrated teeth. It stared back at the startled three before beginning its assault.

Naluahst cupped its four hands, and a ball of dark purple plasma materialized between them all. When released, the orb flew erratically toward the group. They scattered. Algoran circled around, looking for an opening. Storm and Entrica both defended themselves in the ways they knew how—with vine and lightning. It made Algoran glad he'd spent time training Stormburst way back when, and that the little guy hadn't lost his touch.

Soon, Naluahst spotted Algoran and tried attacking him. It was a good plan. Algoran was much more vulnerable. The last thing he saw was the black, wispy mass spiraling toward his face. Then he was running blind.

He stopped the middle of wherever he was to get his bearings. Not long after, he felt himself get swept off the ground and slammed onto something muscular. The surface moved back and forth beneath him, and he heard Entrica's thoughts order, _"Hold on to something!"_

So he reached in front of him and grabbed her. His vision began to clear, the inky blackness replaced with the stormy darkness of the real world. Entrica had pulled him onto Stormburst's back, where she now sat in front of him. All three were charging full force at Naluahst, who seemed perfectly ready for them.

Blue, spherical flames floated haphazardly at the group, but Stormburst ducked around each of them. Next, Naluahst sent a wave of shadows and what almost looked like a wavy red neon light rippling across the road. Stormburst easily leapt over this as well.

A thick haze of purple dust did engulf Storm and his riders, but by then, it was too late for the foe. Entrica jumped off their ride and threw out a bunch of vines to cuff Naluahst's top hands. Algoran, while oddly not fazed by the rushing winds, threw himself off in shock when flames started cloaking his Pokemon.

It turned out to be a good choice, as Stormburst was soon blazing all over. He smashed into Naluahst with a metallic impact, but Algoran did not do the same. The momentum carried him at Naluahst when he left his seat, but instead of crashing into the gold plating, he slipped right through its form like it was only a fog. That was, in fact, what it felt like. Like falling through a cold cloud made by a fog machine. He caught himself before breaking everything in his body on the ground.

It had to be a ghost. That was the only way. But why was it so solid for Stormburst? It was like that for Entrica too, it seemed. Naluahst' hands, all four of them now, were locked up in the vines that could only belong to her. All sorts of nasty looking attempts were exploding out from it. Wispy clouds of black, purple, or blue, an extended shadow, and the same dark shockwave it used before. With Storm, the fires having burned out, leaping nimbly around its failures and Entrica restraining it, it threw one last baleful glare at Algoran.

Just like that, his vision grew spotty and always replaced with illusions of pink and red and blue and black. They all melted together, a sea of boiling colors right in front of his eyes. Not long after, the ache started. But wasn't like any ailment Algoran had ever felt before. This was not physical. It could only be described as a throbbing, purely mental soreness. It was a psychological pain.

With a crack splitting the eerie warbling accompanying the light show, Algoran snapped out of the daze and returned to the world. The sound had come from Entrica. She slapped the ghost square in the face with a vine whip, and it now sat subdued. He met her sideways glare.

He would have come up with at least something to say, but it really wasn't worth trying. So he instead at there on the ground in a perfect stupor. The phenomenon he'd just been subjected to was beyond his understanding. It left his mind reeling and clinging to the slippery cliff of reality.

_"Well, I think I'll take care of this."_ Entrica announced_. Join me when you feel like a_ _person again._ She took Naluahst by the cuffs and began dragging her. Due to the odd positions of the vines, the ghost's head was lifted. It reminded Algoran of his first day. He saw through clearing vision what looked like Stormburst offering to help the effort, getting refused by Entrica, and approaching Algoran with a concern-painted face.

"Yeah, I'm getting up." He steadied himself on Storm's back and observed Entrica stowing Naluahst in the surrounding foliage and wandering off into the deeper city.  
Algoran fully recovered soon after. He and Stormburst rummaged around, as the former tended to do now. Their search yeilded mainly things that were all but useless now. Among the rough, though, were a few diamonds. Namely, Entrica had brought herself back to the group with an armful of brightly colored capsules about the size of toothbrushes.

On the west side of town, they'd found a bright yellow seed, which Entrica insisted on keeping with her. (She once again proved her merit with keeping thing hidden, as Algoran didn't see it again.) Algoran even acquired a curious device that looked like, with a little effort, it could still work. It was mainly green, had a currently dark digital screen, and was only as big as a wristwatch. So he equipped himself with it.

They had come across this contraption on the elevated road to a magnificent white marble castle-like structure they took note of previously. It was too curious of a place to refrain from entering.

Now the state of the environment had escalated again. Algoran's surroundings had been dead, then deserted, and in here they were revived. Shined wood floors, rows and rows of bookshelves, and a proud display of varied fossils all made their name in this single room.

However, as the adventure had been going so far, no time of peace like this one could last. Quick scratches and padding footsteps made their way to the entry. Entrica and Stormburst immediately went on high alert.

From around the corner, a most intriguing creature appeared. It stood three feet tall, was covered in maroon fur striped with maize, and it leered at the museum's intruders with wide, red-and-yellow eyes. It twitched its nose, wiggled a long, puffed tail, and scurried off into some other part of the building. Entrica and Stormburst resumed their activities, but Algoran was not as detached.

"Are you serious? You can just walk away from a thing like that?"

_"Sure. What, did you get the spooks or something?"_

"Well, I've known for a while that a Watchog is a one of the Pokemon I'd never like to meet in person. You're telling a two-legged rat that can look you in the face doesn't freak you out?"

_"I'm telling you pretty definitively."_ Algoran jumped at something he may or may not have heard. "_What now?"_

"I…I don't know. It's just…We've been doing this for two days or so now, and usually nothing ever goes well without something really bad happening right after. We're not fighting for our lives at the moment, so I think we should have our guard up."

_"You really are superstitious, aren't you?"_

"I just think we should maybe check outside."

_"Fine, if it'll calm you down for a while."_ She exited, walked around a corner, and left Algoran's line of sight. He didn't actually expect anything to be there, but Entrica reentered with the new title-holder of the strangest-looking thing Algoran had seen that day.

It really was just a ball with a fin-like tail and two soft blue sacs on either end of its round form. The whole ball was mostly black, except for a tan-scaled circle on the opposite side from the tail. On this circle were markings that gave the thing a babyish appearance. Two bony black ridges made fake eyebrows, but its black shining eyes and grinning mouth were almost certainly real. It wiggled in Entrica's vine grasp, but it didn't look like it could do much else.

_"I don't know what we were afraid of,"_ Entrica said with disapproval. She was looking at the ball fish, not at Algoran.

"Yeah…look, I've got no idea what this is, but it kind of looks like it belongs in the water." At this, the thing wriggled away from its captor and bounced right into Algoran's waiting arms. "Oh, look at that. Is that what you want? There's a river right back east. We'll take you right there."

_"Algoran, it's just a fish. Stop—stop cooing at it."_

"This little thing needs help, and I will not deny it."

}====={

Entrica made it quite clear how she felt about returning the Pokemon to its rightful home. It was a waste of time. If it got out of the water, it could get back in. Algoran, however, was not swayed. He plopped the ball right into the bubbling waters and watched it get carried northward. In catching one last sight of it, he spotted a deep red stripe dividing its tail in half. It stuck out from the other colors. He didn't think about it too hard, and set the group on the path back to Nacrene.

With the sky still overcast and no clock in the city working, Algoran decreed it time to sleep. Their situation was pretty much the same as it was the last night, with makeshift beds in the best house they could find. In this case, though, the homes were better off, and Algoran actually got a real bed. In short, it was bliss. Entrica was conscious this time and got to pick her own place. She ended up moving a bunch of houseplants into a circle in a room down the hall and curling up in the middle. Storm just dropped to the floor, slept on his side with his legs stretched out, and was breathing deeply in a matter of minutes.

Despite his glorious sleep situation, Algoran found it impossible to drift off. His mid was teeming with rapid solutions to all Reshiram had said. He forgot about it while battling Naluahst, but it all came back now. So many questions spewed from his thoughts. How could he have a connection with Kyurem? Was it the same that he had with Entrica and Storm? What even was Kyurem? He'd heard of it in mythology, yes, but the being Reshiram described sounded completely different…

He resorted to tinkering with the device now on his wrist. He popped open loose screws, put parts different places, messed with settings…Stormburst twitched in his sleep and likely dreams. Not long after, the screen crackled, buzzed, and dimly lit itself. All it could manage, it appeared, was a clock, but it was enough to show Algoran that it was even later than he thought. Somehow, that jogged his mind into the mode that was ready for sleep. He unstrapped what had become a wristwatch and was probably asleep before he hit the pillow.

* * *

**Right, okay, fantastic. This one's done. I'd say something fun to close off an important chapter, but I'd much rather make like Algoran and pass out on the way to my room. Review. I can't make anything better if I don't know what you want. Toodles, reverse howdy, whatever boats yer float.**


	8. Entrica Runs Her Course

**Chapter 8. We're getting on up there. And I'm out of shallow wit to pound into the beginnings of these things.**

* * *

"_If that's how you wanna wake me up, I got no problem putting you to bed-toxic-STAY STILL-"_ was not the response Algoran expected to hear from his father. It didn't really answer the question he asked. That confusion cleared up when he realized he had his eyes closed. He opened them for real, thrusting himself into the real world.

Now accompanying Entrica's yelling were assorted crashes and impacts. Algoran shot out of bed and tripped over Stormburst, who'd stood up in a panic as well. A red shape blew through the hallway outside Algoran's room, followed closely by a smaller green bur. He blinked sleep stuff out of his eyes.

What he'd thought to be a terrifyingly large rat, the one they encountered on the previous day, was scrambling through the entire house. Entrica tailgated, trying every few seconds to slap it with a vine. It kept bending out of the way, and property kept getting damaged.

Storm felt it necessary to put in his bit, so Algoran practically had to dive out of the way of a cracking lightning bolt. The stream directly struck the rodent thing, leaving it nearly incapacitated. It slowed, or at least its feet did. Its momentum carried it into a wall. Entrica wasn't prepared to stop, though. She jumped right over its shocked body and tied it up in an infallible knot.

The thing's eyes darted wildly before settling on Entrica. It made a few unsuccessful biting motions in her direction. She looked right at it with the most painfully superior smile to ever be looked at with.

_"I'm getting real good at this,"_ she told it. _"Let me get up on my own next time."_ She soon became aware of Algoran's eyes and met them. _"Woke me up. You go back to sleep."_

"Yeah, I'm up for good."

_"Good for you. I might have left you behind."_

"Anxious to get moving, then?"

_"Fire everywhere doesn't appeal to me. You know that."_

Algoran moved to his window, which looked out in the downtown direction. "I'm surprised it all hasn't gone out." Above the embers, the sky was clearing rather quickly. Algoran was delighted to see spots of plain old grey again. It was no blue, but it was something. Breaking one patch was a distant outline. Little could be discerned about about other that its definite avian shape. Algoran noticed a new development on the ground after he stopped analyzing the bird. It looked like an unconventionally-shaped spotlight.

Entrica was already outside and preparing to leave when Algoran ran in the opposite direction. He had all his stuff, so why in the word was he going that way? _"Hey! Progress is the other way. You do know that, don't you?"_

Algoran would've ignored her, but she had made the threat of going by herself. "There's a signal or something back in the city, and I'm off to look at it." If he went over what she said, her attitude was starting to seem like a ruse.

Stormburst caught up to Algoran easily, and they got the the town square much more quickly. In fact, so quickly, that they'd had to pick Entrica up halfway through the trip because she couldn't keep up on her own. The message was still being broadcast when Algoran hopped off his pet's back onto the smoldering ground. At their distance, the light was too large to be read comfortably. It was also slowly spinning. Algoran had to walk in circles to even stumblingly decipher the glowing words.

"SAFETY...Nimbasa...Haven..." At that point, the words got smaller. "Nimbasa City...stands as a..safe area..." Now the whole thing changed to a cartoon-ish lightning bolt in a circle made of minimalist people holding hands. New words appeared. "'couple miles west and those miles north of YOU. SAFETY, Nimbasa Haven, SAFETY,' Okay, I know how far it is."  
The light continued shining, but Algoran left it alone in favor of seeing if he could flag down the flying messenger. He had to stop Stormburst from firing at it.

"Well, at least we know where to go now."

_"I though we were already going to Castelia City."_

"Yes, but now we have a plan B." Algoran wasn't sure if the broadcaster knew he'd gotten the message, but in any case, it stopped circling and flew off. Probably in a northwestern direction, toward Nimbasa City.

}====={

Stormburst carried Algoran and Entrica out of the city, past their temporary home, and through the gate to Route 3. In the bigger cities of Unova, there would be a pleasant tunnel that functioned as a rest stop for travelers. News would be displayed, there was reading material, and a cheerful attendant would be present behind a counter. Fitting with the spirit of the times, none of that was the same anymore.

Beyond the city limits, Algoran's suspicions about the most recent being a much weaker attack were confirmed. It was all fine out here. In fact, he could even hear insects hissing. No birds, though. It was probably Storm scaring them off, Algoran thought.

Nacrene City had been built atop a sprawling meadow, gentle hills running in two directions. Straight ahead was a thick, dark forest, and to the south a wide plateau stood watch. A decrepit railroad track led through a mechanical gate and into the city. Water from an earlier rainfall had pooled and now waited in puddles all across the field.

It was the most peaceful, well-kept place Algoran had seen this whole trip, and he hadn't felt more uneasy. He called it learning from his mistakes. As he remembered saying yesterday, something bad always cut through any peaceful time. It didn't help that he caught sight of five shadowy, stocky humanoids glaring down at them from the raised cliff. They watched for a time, then wandered downhill. Algoran lost sight of them.

_"That shouldn't be there,"_ Entrica commented. Algoran surveyed the same area she was looking, and quickly saw what she meant. The wooden skeleton of a large shed stood bleakly against the overcast sky. _"Who would put that there and not finish it?"_

As was a bit of a hobby now, Algoran directed Stormburst to the building. Upon arrival, he got off and investigated the structure from all sides. It was made of wood, it felt pretty sturdy for its flimsy look, and the material was smooth and sanded. "Huh. It does seem kind of weird to just be out here."

_"But something's actually wrong."_ Algoran looked down. Entrica was inside box of wood beams now. _"There're puddles everywhere, and the wood is dry."_ Entrica didn't make any sign that she heard the clinking and rustling approaching them. _"Standing water dries up faster than water that's soaked into something, so this had to have been made yesterday morning, at earliest."_

"Nice, ain't it?" The voice was definitely spoken, not thought. It had a gruff edge but wasn't terribly low. Entrica jumped about a mile, and Algoran whipped around to face where he'd heard the noises. He didn't see anything until he brought his gaze down to Entrica-level.

He was just a little Pokemon, about Entrica's height. Fuzzy grey fur coated his body, except for the pinks bands. These looked like they could be made out of plastic if it wasn't such a synthetic material, and they formed guards on the back of his head, halfway around either leg (though Algoran couldn't tell exactly where, since the legs were pretty much conjoined until the ankle), and all the way around his shoulders. Thick, bony lumps protruded from his head-one at the front, two in the back. And he had a round black nose, almost like a dog's.

"Built it meself, I did. Storm's a-brewin'; gotta have place t' stay."

All three travelers noticed different things. Algoran was more surprised at such a little thing building a shelter that had to be at least five times his height. Stormburst didn't react beyond his initial interest at the the word "storm." Entrica picked up on probably the most important thing.

_"You said it's about to storm?"_

"I did, girly, and yer friend looks pale 'nough to be thinkin' it too. Animal instinct," he claimed.

"Right. Well, I guess we won't keep you," Algoran replied. "We'll probably be alright." He was turning to continue on their way he felt a tug on the leg of his pants.

"No, no, 's a biggie headin' our way. Tell y'what, I can get this done a lot faster if yer helpin'. If y'go and fetch me more lumber, y'can stay with me till 's over. Name's Timburr, but the other Timburr call me Krehk. 'Chever y'prefer." Krehk reached both tiny hands and shook with Algoran and Entrica, who also introduced themselves. "Good deal."

So they spent the better part of the morning and into the afternoon gathering spare logs. Stormburst carried most of them, Entrica dragged some, and Algoran carted as many as he could in an armful. Around noon, he had to bear the question he'd had for these past few days unto Entrica.

"Now, I know you can do photosynthesis and all, but it's been cloudy. Have you been hungry at all?"

_"I have not."_

"I tried to eat something a few days ago. Didn't feel great."

_"It's a mystery."_

It took way too long for the afternoon to roll around, bringing with it darkness and distant sky-borne rumbles. Krehk responded by watching the sky and calling his crew back,"I really do 'ppreciate yer help. Fine work, it was. But this ain't done." The shelter did look rather shoddy. About half of its walls were done, fortified by cross-hatched logs. The rest was open to the elements.

_"Where else do you suggest we go? You seem to know this stuff." _Outside the Pokèmon's conversation, the first warm raindrops Algoran saw splashed into an existing puddle.

"Boy, most places go't th' Throh. Y'might've seen 'em when y'came in. They're normally out runnin' around 'n yelling 'n stuff, but they run off when th' weather turns."

_"So...?"_ Entrica sort of looked like she'd stopped listening and started looking around for a place herself.

Algoran put an arm above his head. "Well, isn't there a cliff or a cave or something? We could head back and stay in one of the houses-"

Krehk perked up. "A cave! Perfect place! 'S more sturdy'n any house I've seen. 'N fact, I know a real good one."

The rainfall intensified as all four dashed across the field, following Krehk. It didn't take much. He had a hard time getting anywhere very quickly with legs like his. He also insisted on bringing with them a stack of squared logs they'd collected, and on carrying them all himself.

Halfway there, a light show was taking place up in the atmosphere. Stormburst was running quickly enough, but he must have doubled his speed when he took a full-on lightning strike. Algoran was ready to be roasted or deafened by the close encounter, but Storm's body absorbed everything. He only increased speed.

Not nearly soon enough, a dark opening became visible in a cliff. Algoran recognized this area as the far side of the plateau. He could even make out the train track.  
The inside was rather spacious, at least in the sense of not having to be shoulder-to-shoulder. Krehk took the liberty of stacking almost all the wood into a barrier, and pounding a second layer in a perpendicular, again, cross-hatched pattern with his bare hands. A few bits of timber were left over, and Krehk took one to fidget with.

"'S a shame we couldn't a-used me first thing. Woulda held up."

Algoran didn't say anything, but he thought he preferred this to the much smaller, wooden box they'd been shooting for. This was roomier, and there was even grass covering its floor. Algoran sat on his bag for comfort. The wall opposite the door looked to be made entirely of fallen rocks. He looked at Storm, and realized the only reason he could see was by the soft yellow emanating from his dimly glowing stripes.

Entrica was half-curled up in the grass, Algoran's guess being that she was trying to be comfortable without looking it-that is, looking weak.

It was, admittedly, calming to just listen to the muffled storm outside and to know that, for right now, they were all safe. This was true, of course, only until the rock piles shifted, and equally shifty eyes peered through the openings. The wall fell. Standing there behind it were five Throh, presumably the ones seen earlier.

They were threatening, to say the least. Each bore a human-like appearance, except for red, creased skin. A T-shaped black bar on their faces gave them each a unibrow and something that looked like a nose. They all wore intricately designed karate uniforms, adorned with a black belt.

"Oh-ho, 's their place," Krehk growled, standing up. He didn't get much taller. All the Throh had at least four feet on him.

"So, maybe we should just let them have it?" Algoran really was ready to leave, but then again, the storm didn't sound so welcoming either.

"I'll let 'em have it, tha's fer sure." Krehk lifted the log high above his head and ran straight at the crowd. He slowed and turned back when he heard no support coming from the others. "I was plannin' on y'all comin' with."

_"Oh, no, you looked perfectly capable,"_ Entrica replied. But she got to her feet, as did Algoran. Stormburst was never sitting. As such, he was the first to careen into the wall of Throh. Two caught him and held him down easily, but they swiftly relinquished their grasp when the electrical charge passed through their bodies.

Entrica entered the rising chaos, vines already blurring. The final event leading to the utter brawl was Krehk's attack on some Throh's stumpy leg. The much taller target tripped, causing disorder in the rank. The Throh scattered, going out for themselves, and discord erupted.

Algoran got thrown to the rock cave wall several times, but he was always able to sneak back into a safer spot. He at least wanted to help somehow, so he too took up a spare log and swung it around. The sight of him armed led one Throh to lift and throw him into another's clutches. This catcher lifted his cargo high into the air. He dropped Algoran right away, hit in the shoulder with a flying rock.

"In th' almost-face!" Krehk yelled from somewhere.

Entrica was doing pretty well, from her perspective. She'd already spun one around and bought herself some time, and now she had another in an constricting net. She, in a clever display of tactics, through it into Stormburst's straight path when he barreled past, covered head-to-hoof in fire.

Algoran took Krehk's idea and inconspicuously kept to the ground, attacking legs when he could. Being much larger, he had a harder time not being noticed, but he managed.

The Throh were mostly preoccupied with the others anyway. It seemed to slow them down, if only temporarily, when he got good hit on a knee.

While it seemed to them that Algoran's side was the winning one, the Throh were taking back the upper hand. Whereas before they'd maybe been holding back, punching and such, they started returning to what their name suggested they were best at: throwing.

From somewhere in the center of the action, an explosion of green and wind spun the Throh away. When the cyclone's edge approached him, Algoran saw the whole thing to be made of orbiting leaves. Through the gaps, Entrica could be seen hovering in the epicenter. When the whirlwind dissipated, she landed, stunned. Four of the five Throh stood back up.

A look of suppressed fear bubbled into Krehk's eyes. "'S not happenin'. WE TRIED, didn' work. I'm all fer runnin' fer me life." Krehk smashed the makeshift door, letting sheets of rain and roaring wind into the cave. Strangely, no thunder or lightning made an appearance or sound.

"I agree," Algoran called, but he suspected his voice was lost in the noise. He was about to ride Stormburst away, but turned to scoop up Entrica. She had fallen to the floor after creating the tornado and didn't look like she was getting up on her own soon. Algoran sealed her in his bag, leaving a small air hole just in case. Then he rode Stormburst away.

"Are you sure you don't need a ride!" Algoran almost scream this at Krehk, who was falling behind as they sprinted across the field.

"Don' know a Timburr who ever needed a-" He looked back and caught sight of the storm's true measure. "ALL ABOARD!" Algoran lifted him, and he lifted the log he was still cradling, into the former's lap. "Where're we goin'!"

Algoran looked back, too. There, across the field, an evil-looking funnel cloud towered into the sky. It was dark from debris and was chasing the tiny creatures down. Despite the place's impermanence and possibilities for things to throw around, an instinct within Algoran commanded him into the forest. Without really knowing why, he passed the same instructions on to Stormburst.

His ride dove into the woods, ignoring the probably menacing fog drifting from it, and didn't stop until everybody could hear again. This was nowhere near an ordinary forest. It was incredible how little got through. The leafy canopy blocked most of the rain; only the occasional trickle reached them. The wind was reduced to a low rumble.

A new sound took center stage-a sparkling or twinkling sound. Gold light accompanied it, all streaming from Entrica's air hole. Algoran set her on the ground, rather swiftly when he found her to be the source. She opened her mind to say something, but was cut off. The light covered her completely, and lit the trees as well. Stormburst stepped back in confusion-induced fear, but Krehk came up closer.

"What'd y'say her name was? Antirca?"

"Entrica." Algoran stooped down to her eye level. She collapsed to her knees again.

"Sure." Krehk came around to Algoran's viewpoint. "So, wha's goin' on?"

"I wish I knew." With no regard for gravity, something lifted Entrica off the forest floor and held her a few inches from it. Dirt and grass below her orb of light blew around in a forced circle as her mental and vocal voices cried out.

* * *

**I like Krehk. Krehk's a good guy. Also, Entrica's doing a thing. Oh, why do I sit down here and tell you all this? You just read the-you know what, I'll just start teasing the next chapter. Plop. (That was the sound of the teaser plopping onto the digital page.)**

_"I don't suppose Stormburst was paying a copious amount of attention when we came_ _in." _It was true. Even now, he trotted about, sniffing the air. He would occasionally return to check on Entrica again.

"Well, I guess it can't be _too_ difficult to find one's way out of a dark forest in the middle of a tornado...it might be a good idea to wait it out in here, though." Algoran looked all around, judging the merit of each way they could go.


	9. Castelia Bay

**And heeeeere I am again! Jeez, I hate exclamation marks. They make me sound too excited when all I'm trying to do is sound happy. But I've just been busy with an assortment of obligations that have nothing to do with my previous hiatus. Unfortunately, they're not all done yet, but fortunately, it's only for a few more weeks. At that point, I hope to start publishing real fast. Plus, I think this is about to get real fun to write pretty soon. So have yourselves a good ol' read.**

* * *

As some kind of proof to himself that he was tough enough, Algoran refused to look away from the burning white glow exploding off Entrica. Krehk wasn't as into flinching away, so he gave the play-by-play.

"She's goin' through a rough somethin'," he announced. "So y' don' know what 't is?"

"I can see it. I already said I've got no idea what this is."

"W'll, y'should."

He still refused to clarify things any further. The white dimmed, not to say it wasn't still brilliant, into an iridescent gold hue. Entrica's silhouette became sharply visible. Then it began to grow. Up a few inches, up a foot, and it kept going until it could have comfortably looked Algoran in the eyes. The only parts of Entrica that weren't shifting in size were her arms and legs, possibly the parts that most needed to.

Right about then, she got her voice through the chaos. Its distress was contagious. _"This-this isn't-I DON'T LIKE IT!"_

"I'll get you out-" Algoran put his hand out to the pulsing light, but Krehk grabbed his arm before it burned off in the energy.

"'S nothin' y'can do from out here. Jus' let it run 's course."

Her tail lengthened, the leaf shape on the end increasing in size and prominence. Two similarly-built structures opened up where her back became her newly larger tail. It was difficult to make out, but it seemed the yellow ornaments on her shoulders were making their way into a crest on her front as well. A little spike popped up on top of her head.

Steadily, everything slowed. Entrica drifted back onto the ground, her shadow darkened, and the light dissipated. One final blast knocked Algoran back a few steps. Krehk and Stormburst were unaffected, just intrigued.

Now she was as clear as she'd always been-with a few changes. The tan scales on her stomach had arranged themselves in a intricate, delicate pattern. The head spike was more like...an open flap, with a yellow interior. This same yellow material did make up a new adornment that flowed from her chest and over her shoulders, flourishing out behind her.

Entrica took a few deep breaths while Algoran recovered his ability to say anything. Krehk, on the other hand, went right up to her and sized up her new form. Every few breaths, a narrow, snakelike tongue slid out from inside her snout.

She inhaled sharply. _"Mmm...I don't know if it's worth it. Not liking the hands." She flapped the leaves attached to her sides to make her point._

"But-" Algoran picked himself up and approached her as well. "-you aren't surprised? Scared? Confused?"

"'Course she ain't. Don' y'got a clue what'cher trainin'?"

"Oh, I'm not training h-"

_"No, not confused. We all do this. I'm kind of with Krehk here-you're not a trainer, but you at least have to know what evolution is."_

Algoran thought back. Way back, back to all the times he might have heard about this. It sounded definitely familiar... "That's what that was?" Entrica nodded slowly. "I wasn't aware it's so dramatic."

_"Well, neither was I, but more in the realm of perception from the inside. I wouldn't recommend it."_ Entrica took some much-needed time to recover from her transformation, leaving Krehk and Algoran in a decidedly awkward, drawn-out silence. Krehk chose to whittle away the minutes by giving Algoran the full story of what evolution was and why he should be more open-minded.

"An' I'm due fer me spurt any day. Been liftin' an' trainin' and buildin', all t' be like me pop." Being open-minded as he was, Algoran kept to himself his difficulty imagining Krehk in a happy, normal family situation.

When Entrica finished meandering through the woods a bit, the storm was rolling away. Only the occasional raindrop splatted onto the treetop roof, and the winds had calmed. Birds and insects returned to the world. Entrica also displayed some kind of...shift. It might have been her increased sturdiness on her legs, the kind she hadn't had fresh out of evolution. Or maybe it was her genuine, soft smile. Not a smirk, but a tiny grin. It was like she was actually in a good mood.

_"I got it now. Let's move on."_ Krehk looked up at Algoran, and Algoran looked straight to Entrica. (The height was going to take some amount of getting used to.) "Are we not moving forward?"

Algoran folded his hands. "So, neither of us"-he gestured between Krehk and himself-"were looking which way we were going."

_"Oh. And I don't_ suppose_ Stormburst was paying a copious amount of attention when we came through."_ It was true. Even now, he trotted about, sniffing the air. He would occasionally return to check on Entrica again.

"Well, I guess it can't be too difficult to find one's way out of a dark forest after escaping a tornado-at least it's gone, though." Algoran surveyed their options, judging the merits of each way they could go. He led them to a raised block of land, accessible from ground level by a fallen, hollow tree trunk. From atop the pillar they could see beyond most of the trees, their view sullied only by the mightiest.

Krehk pointed out the tower of smoke billowing into the distant sky. "Best option, wouldn' ch'say?" Algoran nodded, and the four descended to ground level. They swiftly turned, and headed determinedly in the direction of the landmark.

They talked among themselves, mainly about trivial things. Notable stimuli in the forest, for example. Their conversation didn't start to pick up until Krehk pulled himself onto Stormburst's back, likely to rest his inefficient feet, and asked, "So how'd y'two git here? Haven' saw a man since...a couple days."

"Yeah, there haven't been people for several days," replied Algoran, his shoulders drooping just a bit. "This dragon, er, Reshiram, showed up and blasted my town."

"Y'know, I saw that from me shed. E'ryone in Nacrene ran scared. They all went t' Nimbasa City." He said the last few words mockingly. "Whad-d'-y'-know, didn' even hit us. Till he came back fer more, that is."

_"Algoran says we're going there, too, eventually. I don't know, though. I'm still not all for this great, far-and-wide expedition. Anyway, I was just coming back out of the woods. Mot of my family was somewhere else, but after...the fact...I couldn't find them anywhere."_ It was unclear whether her silence following this statement was intentional or not. Maybe it wasn't, since Entrica took such a long breath to start again. _"The only one I could find was my brother, and he was already a New-Bark. He ran off on his own, so I went into the city...to scavenge, I guess. Algoran was on the ground, pretty pitiful."_

"I will say, in my defense, Focus Blast has to be one of the most potent attacks a Pokemon can do."

_"Yes, but I took one just fine, didn't I."_

"She survived one-a them?" Krehk looked at her with a brand new sense of respect.

Algoran leaned closer to him and whispered, "She still fainted."

She also ignored them. _"I figured Algoran could use the help, cause it was pretty sad. And he made this whole speech about wanting to find his sister, and...I guess I just felt obligated to help him find her, since..you know, my brother just ran off."_

"Well, that's good to know, I guess." Algoran was at least a little taken aback by her sudden desire to open up, So he inquired this.

_"Oh, maybe I just feel like since I look so different now, I might as well-"_ she had been planning to say that she was going to be nicer, but a tiny pinch way down deep in her brain demanded to differ. Its voice was a million years old, bred by the ancients' greatest feats. It was the voice that always told her that she was better, she was greater, and she should act it. It was the voice that told her to follow Algoran, because she-_"give a little reason why."_

"But...you didn't."

_"Everyone grows up somehow. This is how we do it in the forest."_ She said nothing more on the topic.

For the rest of their time in the wood, Algoran and Krehk made more quiet conversation, sometimes stopping to let Stormburst take power naps. Entrica took the time to perhaps get the feel for her new height and senses. She took a good deep breath, and felt her newly elongated, narrowed tongue flick out, snake about, and recede. With all she knew, she shouldn't ave been surprised that she was smelling with it...but then, how could she not be? She surveyed the air for smoke particles and kept leading the other three in the right direction.

Finally, they exited the forest. However, they were nowhere near where they'd gone in. Their previous entrance required them to cross a desolate road, and now it seemed they were further along the same street. Nacrene City was no longer in sight. But that was fine, Algoran realized, when he turned slightly to his left.

They had reached the west coast of this Unovan peninsula. Before them was a broad expanses of a bay whose water would flow north in a river straight across the region. One of Unova's architectural wonders spanned the gap, looking to its creators like a piercing arrow looming into the sky. So they christened it Skyarrow Bridge. It still stood, mighty as ever, outlined against the clouds. The pedestrian road looked fine from Algoran's distance, but the lower vehicle path had nearly collapsed. He shut any instability out of his head and started his strides directly toward the entrance platform.

From there, he could see Castelia City way across the bay. Also visible was the gloomy prospect of its fallen state. A smoke cloud had risen above it as well, the only light of blue sky being far off over the ocean. Many buildings looked to be leaning and fractured. The squared-off skyline now looked rounded from lost material. Gazing at the horizon, he was almost unaware of him Pokémon approaching from behind him.

"Don' look too good, do it?" Krehk was the first to speak up.

"It doesn't. I...don't even know if I should try going over there. Yeah, this was stupid. Of course Amirissa's not alive. She's dead, just like everyone else anymore."

It was a while before Entrica put in her bit.

_"Well, _technically, _you don't know for sure until you've looked. If you pulled through, maybe she did."_

Algoran didn't say anything back. He just looked up again and looked back in the direction of home. The prospect of going back didn't sound plausible either. Stormburst stomped one foot into the metal floor and chuffed impatiently. "Fine. Before I change my mind, let's go. Quick." The other three hurried into the gate, and Algoran followed them to the bridge.

* * *

**And there they go. Getting to the end of the story's summary. I guess I'll have to write a new one. Your teaser:**

In a moment of intensity, Algoran yanked Krehk's vine down, releasing him, and forcefully pulled Entrica out of the confrontation. "Stop it." His sternness, which he expected to return an apology, instead got him cuts all over and the sensation of wind. A small form of Entrica's leaf tornado gashed him up.

_Shut up! Let me finish! This is mine!_

**Now go and have the most fantastic day. Oh, and to those who noticed, I comlpetely changed the preview just now. I was writing the next chapter, like I do, and it went the opposite direction from where I planned it, and the teaser no longer fit. Really, though, hava a good one.**


	10. The High Haven

**Howdy. Okay, you're free to go ahead. Anybody out there into Dragonball? I've never seen it, but I think it sneaked its way in here somehow. Where is that little bugger? I'm gonna get the broom.**

* * *

Skyarrow Bridge was in no worse shape than any other structure from Algoran's adventure, but that didn't mean it was easy to traverse. For the most part, Algoran and the newly-larger Entrica squished themselves onto Stormburst's back for transportation. The latter, if he felt the increased weight at all, was an expert at hiding it. Krehk adamantly padded along on his own two feet, probably as a matter of pride.  
There would often come a situation in which the path was nearly unsurpassable. In such a case, Entrica would have to lift Krehk onto Stormburst's back, or rather, hers, as it was more of a piggyback position, so they could all cross the gap with their ride's flying leap. They were all roughly three quarters of the way across the suspension bridge when Entrica hopped off and stood still.  
_"I won't go any further_," she stated.  
Algoran turned around to face her incredulously. "Are you serious? The city's right in front of us, and you said you'd come. What's getting you?"  
She turned up her nose. "_No. There's something wrong about this, and I don't like it at all."_  
"Wrong with what, the city? It's probably just the heat. I know you hate it."  
_'No, it's more than that_.' Still, she swallowed the prodding notions and pressed on with the others until they stood at the gate. It towered over them, multiple stories high, and a metal panel had replaced the door.  
Krehk moved forward and ran his hand along the ribbed steel, knocking various places. Then he turned around and walked straight up the road and back onto the bridge. With a growling yell, he came barreling back toward the gate and punched a sizable hole through its blockage. It was large enough for him to climb through and for Entrica to expand with quivering vines.  
On the other side lay the city's caitiff state. Of course, the unavoidable smoke hung low in the sky, casting street-level into would-be darkness. But this time, illumination radiated from the roads. Much of their space was gone, replaced by rivers of lava on which chunks of asphalt and metal drifted. Most buildings had their glass shattered, blocks missing, and rubble lining their bases. Many, many half-melted cars were piled up against each other on the remaining land.  
Entrica helped lift everyone onto an overpass that seemed probably sturdy. There were a few quakes, but it still looked like a better option than the messed-up floor-is-lava game down below.  
_'I really don't feel good about this...'_Entrica restated.  
On a more important topic to him, Algoran said, "Okay. Okay. This is fine. We're going to put bad things out of mind now. We're going to look for my big sister." He turned around and around a few times to scan the area. Nothing but firelight and jumping shadows. "Krehk, you're the only other guy with a voice. Help me out, won't you? Amirissa!" He called out as loud and wide as he could. Krehk soon joined in.  
"Am'rissa! Yer bro's out her fer yeh!"  
_'Doesn't mean I can't try. Amirissa, if you're around, it would make a lot of trouble worthwhile if you showed up.'  
_It took several minutes of shouting before Algoran to lose spirit and quiet down for a while. "Oh...I don't think she's here. And if she is, we're not attracting her attention like this."  
Their incessant noise had, however, caught the ears of three appointed mercenaries. They ran, scuttled, and rolled down prepared pathways to the district of the disturbance. Once there, they dropped in a triangle formation around the ragtag group.  
If there was one thing Algoran detested more than snakes, it was bugs. He was surrounded by three giant ones. One actually looked more like a lobster with an absurdly large stone block for a shell. The next was a tire-like cocoon ribbed with needles and antennae. From the center of the plated wheel a yellow, reptilian eye glared out.  
The tallest of the three was also the most off-putting. It seemed like an ungodly fusion of an ant, a plant, and a human. The humanness, however, only existed in its general shape and facial structure. Its ant parts were a sick shade of yellow and built its legs, torso, and face. Very thin leaves stuck together to, barely, make jointed arms. Two antennae projected from its forehead, below which were two red compound eyes and a perpetually grinning mouth.  
"That's hideous," Algoran stated bluntly. He would have said more, but he was cut off by an even grosser loathing rising from somewhere. He quickly realized its source when Entrica when her mental voice spoke out, dangerously low and quiet.  
_'I never thought I'd see one.'_ Eyes darkened, she approached the bipedal insect. '_But here we are_,' she said coldly. '_Face to face_.'  
"Antirca, maybe I c'n step in fer yeh" Krehk, seeing the tension rise, put himself in front of Entrica. Stormburst sensed the same mood and instead moved closer to his owner.  
Entrica didn't respond to the comment, other that knotting its speaker in a vine and lifting him above her head and out of the way. '_You're repulsive, and you should know it._'  
To Algoran's surprise, another mind entered his with the sharp, feminine, and most definitely threatening voice. '_Coming right from the heart of the rightest snake in the woods. Did you hear me? I wouldn't be surprised if you can't, you're so closed-minded.'  
'What you are is abhorrent. I hope the scum that made your kind burned in the same fire you will.'  
'Imagine that. Scum calling someone else by its name.'  
_Entrica moved even closer, so her snout was practically brushing the ant's jaws. '_I. Hate. You.'  
_In a moment of intensity, Algoran yanked Krehk's vine down, releasing him, and forcefully pulled Entrica out of the confrontation. "Stop it." His sternness, which he expected to return an apology, instead got him cuts all over and the sensation of wind. A small form of Entrica's leaf tornado gashed him up.  
_'Shut up! Let me finish! It's my history!_'  
Algoran teetered backwards, off-balance and in shock from Entrica's outburst. He relied on Stormburst's faithful presence for balance. Meanwhile, the tallest bug's discipline ran out and it slashed at Entrica with arms that must have been sharp as swords. Entrica retaliated with a blurring onslaught of four or more vines, all lashing in succession. Her enemy leaned out of the way of almost every one.  
To encompass the whole area, the largest cloud of leaves Algoran had seen yet circled Entrica. Either the low air pressure inside or some variation of the her control of plants lifted her off the ground, as the whirlwinds tended to do. It was obvious that the ant was having trouble staying steady and out of the chaos. In response, Entrica yelled, the emotion bursting from her reached unprecedented levels, and the whirlwind towered into the sky.  
Algoran figured keeping calm on the outside was an essential skill in times like these, no matter the terror he was actually feeling. "Krehk. Stop her." He nodded vigorously and ran in, log held high and battle roar booming. The other two bugs, the crab and the wheel thing, were probably instigated by their leader's action. They advanced on Algoran and Stormburst. "Storm, we're taking these."  
Algoran ran at the rocky one on foot, assuming Storm's lightning would do little to the stone coating and leaving him free to ignite if he pleased. When he got in striking distance of it, he came to the realization that he also had nothing to penetrate the shell, and its pincers were intimidating enough to keep him out of the facial area. So he pulled himself onto the flat top, losing a shoe to the grabby claws.  
From his wobbling platform, Algoran saw that Storm was doing better. His electrical bolts were making contact, and he did go for the flaming approach after getting rolled over once. "Good work, pal! Shake it off."  
Still, the battle between Entrica and her apparently foremost enemy raged, with Krehk weaving between them. He threw rocks at both, attempting to distract them from each other. They viscously ignored him. With said enemy reeling in the air, having been finally sucked into the vortex, Entrica leapt up after it and, with a slap of her tail, sent it crashing into the street. As Entrica made her descent, however, she too got a face-full of razor-sharp leaves. She remained fairly unfazed-that is, until the bug sliced one of the vines she'd used to break her fall. She cried out in both voices, and fell, crippled from pain. Her foe put one needlelike foot onto her back and sharpened one arm with the other.  
Somewhere, a reflex within Algoran made itself known. He launched himself off the stone crab, knocking it off balance. Then he landed one the leaf bug and they both hit the ground. Krehk took the chance to hold Entrica to the ground, assisted by Stormburst. He bucked the tire bug on its side before rushing over.  
Algoran barely held the ant thing down for a second. It practically jumped to its feet, centered on nothing but Entrica, it seemed. Algoran, now thrown to the street, caught sight of a tall figure down the road. It raised its right hand, the other behind it back, and stepped into view. The thing that stopped all the madness of combat was just a sea otter. With blue fur and two seashells strapped to its bushy legs. That was what called the ceasefire.  
Everyone who'd been fighting quit. For the bugs, it was probably due to a given order. But for the others, it was a puzzled cessation. The former group lined up with the tallest in the middle between their targets and the commander.  
_'They were progressing into restricted areas_,' the ant stated curtly.  
_'We discussed the subject. You were to explain the situation first.' _The otter's voice, also mental, was much too mature for his bodily appearance. '_I take it something impeded that intention?'  
'She provoked me_.' A leafy arm pointed right at Entrica, who still struggled to get out from underneath Krehk and Stormburst. She was calming down just a bit.  
The otter captain approached her and looked down to meet her gaze. At this, she finally pushed her restraints away and stood tall to then look down on him. She spoke to him first_. 'If you look at the background, they clearly threatened us.'  
'Well, she's not part of "they," now is she?'_  
_'She's not part of anybody.'  
_Now the otter, who remained placid in the remnants of the brawl, addressed Algoran. _I have to assume you're the officer here?  
_"Well, you wouldn't want to mention it while Entrica's around"-  
_'We don't do the orders thing, thanks_,' Entrica answered harshly.  
"But I do like to take in any new information."  
_'You have to understand, Castelia Haven is not to be held responsible for the actions of any individual.'  
_"C'stella Hav'n?" Krehk got up real close to the otter and would have possibly been threatening had he been taller. "Yer makin' it sound like y'got some kinda bis'niss goin' on."  
_'Well, we do. But I really should have introduced myself sooner_.' With a low bow, he called himself Daimaru.  
"Algoran. Stormburst, Krehk, Entrica. You know, it's interesting you should say Castelia Haven. Do you by any chance know a place called Nimbasa Haven?"  
_'Branch of the same group. We're just camped out here in big cities as a safe haven, if you will, for survivors. We had the supplies, and we thought it wouldn't be right to keep them all for ourselves. But I'd like to explain in a more _commune_ environment. Now the center of the Haven is that tower back there. I invite you all to join me.'  
_ }====={  
It turned out the meeting place for Castelia Haven was set up in the observation deck, otherwise known as the very top floor, of what used to be a place called the Kirs Tower. Despite its great height and tourist business from this viewing deck, most of it was offices for a bigger company.  
As was the way of the world now, the room had been through some rough days. Only scorched concrete made the floor, celling, and bits of wall. Actually, way too much of the walls and windows were gone for it to be comfortable at all. In their place various Pokemon-borne barriers closed the gaps. Some were tough-looking branches and leaves woven into a thick blockade, some were blocks of ice, and some were just stacked rocks. But it was the people Algoran was more interested in.  
It had really only been a few days since everything went downhill, but Algoran had lost all sense of time between non-hunger and the lack of sun. So it felt like it could have been any painfully long period of time since he'd last come into social contact. He couldn't help but introduce himself to everyone. Most were happy to see a newcomer, and most had at least one Pokemon with them.  
Daimaru coaxed Entrica into coming along with him in private, leaving Algoran with Krehk, Stormburst, and Gefy, a kid they'd met and who'd stuck around with them. Algoran was finding that for such a younger guy, Gefy knew so much more of history than Algoran did. Specifically, of Pokemon culture, which was a subject Algoran had always thought about getting into. Presently, they all paced around the room, Gefy and Krehk alternating parts in the story of the Timburr, Gurdurr, and Conkeldurr evolutionary family.  
"So the Ancryds were the first to make things out of concrete, and people think they learned how to make it from the ancestors of Conkeldurr."  
"Y'better believe it."  
"Once they had a whole city made of concrete, all the Timburr tried to evolve as quick as they could because there was no point in wood anymore and no one was ready for metal yet. They had the strongest city walls in the ancient world."  
"That's cool," Algoran replied, having to put all his concentration into keeping track of everything. Which he admittedly wasn't. There were a lot of other things on his mind.  
"Then th' started gettin' greedy an' went off t' smush the Gardiyis. They got whooped," Krehk growled.  
"That's not as cool. For the Ancryds, at least."  
"Yeah, but it was cool for the Gardiyis, 'cause they were really good at farming, and genetics says they created the first Cottonee."  
Algoran quite suddenly felt a wave of discomfort plow through his stomach. "So what Pokemon is that?"  
"Well, nobody's ever seen one."  
"How do they know the Gardiyis bred one, then?"  
"They just do."  
Soon, Daimaru was back, and Algoran left Gefy with Stormburst if they would both mind the gaps. Krehk remained with those two to make sure they minded the gaps.  
"Where's Entrica?" was the first thing Algoran questioned Daimaru about. The second was whether the commander knew the death toll of the city.  
_'Well, Entrica's taking a break right now. And, no. I don't. Why do you ask?_'  
"I...I'm sorry. I'm sure it's not your job to know all that. It's just...I kind of took a long walk all the way out here for one person, and I was going to see what the chances are."  
Daimaru took a quieter tone. '_Oh. Well, the boss should be back sometime tonight. You could ask then.'  
_"Where's 'the boss'?"  
_'Last I knew, out in the desert. Went to correspond a bit with Nimbasa Haven. Not out of disrespect to your potential loss, but come and follow me. Someone's been here a while that I think you should meet.'  
_  
Daimaru led Algoran up to a sort of mezzanine balcony. Across the room, locked in a dead gaze across the darkened ocean, stood the man whom he'd heard of. His long black trench coat furled a bit in the wind.  
_'He works best in a one-on-one type of thing_,' Daimaru whispered, in thought, at least, and promptly rejoined everyone else downstairs.  
"Mr. Sh-"  
"I thought I told that conniving sea rat to tell people my name." His voice was low, not rough, just tired-sounding. "I go by Moto, but he never introduces me like that."  
Algoran walked up to join him in his observations. "So...Daimaru said I should come see you?"  
"Did he?"  
"...Yes. He did."  
"Must've had a good reason." Algoran couldn't really tell whether the silence following was uncomfortable or not. "Well, I guess I owe you an apology too. You and everyone else here. At least they helped you out," the man said, taking notice of the Haven's resident healer's attempts to cover up his tornado injuries and a nice, bulky pair of boots to replace his lost shoe.  
Algoran tried to answer Moto, but was cut off on the verge on saying something.  
"You ever have a fantasy that you just play around with so much that you...begin to forget the rest of the world is even there?" At this, Moto turned to look straight into Algoran's eyes. Moto's embodied his voice just fine-the age was evident.  
"Sure."  
"The other side of that is you begin to feel like that fantasy's more real than anything else. And most of the time, that's harmless...but not for a guy like me."  
"I'm not following."  
"You might not. It's not your tale. Go back down and have a little fun in my folly."  
"I don't mean to leave you alone-"  
"I doesn't matter to me. Please. I shouldn't keep you. Unless...there's something you wanted to ask me?"  
"...No. I'll leave you to your...this."  
Algoran left the man feeling like he knew less about him than he did before they'd met.

}====={

Entrica was back from wherever she'd been. Algoran felt obligated to go see her again, but he was still in just a bit of a blurred state from Moto's odd demeanor.  
Yeah, he just had me sit by myself and think through what I said. She filled Algoran in anyway. '_Said I was being closed-off. I ought to throw him in with the garbage_.' He could tell she was withholding a lot of pent-up hate, but she was doing a good job of keeping it to herself this time.  
"I've just been put in a very strange conversation with a very strange sort of guy." Algoran looked over to see if he could find Daimaru. He was telling the three bugs something in a hushed circle. "If you look now, you might not have to throw him."  
_'Friends_, Daimaru greeted happily, _you've all gotten off to a bad start._ _I'll introduce you all. See, these guys don't talk, so we just call them Wheel and Stone. That's following in the same theme as this one's name, Leaf_.' The insectoids' titles all seemed to fit well with their structures. '_So Entrica, Leaf, I want you to at least say hello nicely.'  
_They only glared darkly to each other. Algoran felt the need to take a step back.  
_'Make up,_' Daimaru ordered, significantly more sternly. He pulled one of his shells out of his fur, and its curved edge began emitting a thin white gas. It blew over to Algoran's hand, and he felt it chill.  
The cold breeze threatened Entrica enough for her to say, in a harshly sarcastic tone, '_Hello, genetic disease, I'm happy to see you, I hope you're well, and I'm so sorry to hear that you're a mistake.'  
_Leaf sharply returned, '_Hello, self-righteous poison, I hate you, I hope you burn, and I'm not sorry for you.'  
_Daimaru, before things got worse, fired a brief shot of snow at each of their feet. '_Not what I asked for. Try this. 'I don't agree with you, but I accept you for who you are and I wish you well.'_ His shell's blade was slowly freezing over. Both Entrica and Leaf recited the phrase, and it would have been through gritted teeth if they were speaking through mouths. '_That'll be all.'  
_Entrica immediately thrust the same shadowy look at Algoran. '_Don't even ask. It's my background, not yours._'  
When the tension died down, Krehk and Stormburst returned, not accompanied by Gefy. "Kid's got s'm bad info. Had t'crrect him on s'm stuff. Sent 'im to his folks."  
"Good. They better have a good place to sleep around here, because I just now realized how long a day it's been"-  
_'PEOPLE OF CASTELIA HAVEN_.' Great gusts of wind pulsed through the deck. Unnamed people gasped and some screamed. Algoran had to turn around to see what got some so worked up. Reshiram was back.  
He hovered just outside, flapping his vast wings to stay aloft. His glowing eyes peered intensely into the room, and his psychic voice reverberated in everyone's heads.  
_'It has come to my attention that someone has recently arrived here whom I'd very much like to speak with.'_ Algoran was just out of sight of the dragon, and he was prepared to enter, thinking he was being called. So it shocked him just a bit when Moto came blowing past him, speaking only a few indistinct words to Entrica as he passed. Seemingly without thought, she covered Algoran completely in greenery. He almost couldn't breathe, and what he did get reeked of sap.  
All he could gather was the exchange between Moto and Reshiram.  
_'There you are, Shige-_'  
"I won't stand here and be called by any other name than the one I chose."  
_'...Hmph. Moto, I'm not going to soften the blow. You're due._'  
"All these people aren't."  
_'Then stop meddling here, and let's arrive at the showdown._'  
"It's too early, and you know you're overstepping."  
_'In light of recent events, I believe anyone would rule that now...anything goes. Come along.'  
_There was a hesitation, and the telltale whoosh sounded as Reshiram soared away. The vines retracted themselves from around Algoran's constricted person, leaving him taking, at the very least, deep breaths.  
"Why-did you do that-"  
_'That guy said it would help disguise you. Something about covering up your connection to a dragon with your connection to me, which Reshiram wouldn't care about. He's gone, by the way. Flew off together.'  
_"He thinks I'm connected to Kyurem too? I wouldn't even call what we have a 'connection'-more of an accidental telepathy-"  
_'Okay, everyone settle down_.' Daimaru seemed to have gathered a bunch of people behind him to heroically protect them if needed. '_You all knew it was getting close to bedtime.'  
_"Oh, thank goodness."  
It was surprising how quickly everyone got to their places and whipped out various methods of physical comfort. They must have been doing this for a while. Some people came over with one worn-out sleeping bag and one roll of fake grass. They stated that those were what was being supplied at the moment. When they left, Algoran and Entrica, with some of Krehk's stubborn insistence, rationed the bag to Algoran and the turf to Stormburst, leaving Entrica to fashion a leafy bed for herself and Krehk to use the nice rocky ground.  
"Don' know of a Timburr who ev'r needed a cush'n."  
Daimaru came round one to wish everyone a good night and to make sure they were settled down. With his mind full, Algoran channeled the constant physical and mental strain this whole thing required, and then put it through the fact that he was with people now. They could help him. He could even stay here. And all these saved people would become his new family.  
So, realizing an uncanny silence from Entrica's end, he slept.

}====={

The boss arrived late at night. Much later, in fact, than planned and hoped for. The time read just after midnight. Too much rest was required for the coming days to be up this late, and subsequently up so early. Maybe it would have been better to keep one more night in Nimbasa Haven. Clementine snuffed, her rider having dismounted at the base of Kirs Tower. To avoid making a scene inside, she dimmed her ever-blazing facial flames.  
Algoran had no idea of the boss's return, and the boss likewise had no idea of his arrival. So they both slept.

* * *

**That was all over the place.**

_...Algoran._

Why, why, _why_ had she done all this? The question hung over her like industrial smog, but she'd been ignoring for a lack of a meaningful answer. But now it was time to finally break it.


	11. Exercises in Contemplation

**Hey, look who's gotten lazy with Entrica's names for stuff! I'm over here. That guy. Me. Great. Inner monologue. Everybody loves that. You know, I think we all need a little inner monologue in our lives-this font is really growing on me, hot diggety. What was I talking about?**

* * *

She couldn't sleep. Or rather, she wouldn't.

She'd been stewing in her own contempt for hours. Normally, there would have been outlets. But the strategy in Castelia Haven seemed to be to force emotions back down so everyone could live a jovial lie.

So she held everything in. One part the long-standing repulsion from Leaf's kind-who gave her that name?-and one part the hatred of Daimaru for treating her like a misbehaving child and bringing her into a forced solitude. So many things wrong. She stood up and paced.

First, being alone was to be saved as a free calling, not a pass-time and certainly not a punishment. Second, no living creature of Daimaru's kind had authority over hers. Much less so when his complete ignorance of her rich, intricate history was to be taken as it was.

But he was only the root of the issue. What she'd seen, what she'd spoken with, out there at the edge of the urbanization, was the embodiment of all manner of things the Regals hated. If bugs had only stayed in their own rancid marsh, there would be no more than quiet animosity between them and the Regals-or any other forester, for that matter. But they felt the need to leave their own food source and commit such brutal acts of nature on the foresters...

Peace should have been out of the question. But some toxic dancer and a bug of half-developed intellect must have come together for a peaceful solution. Thus, the Sewaddle, Swadloon, and Leavanny family arrived. Half-forester, half-bug. A monstrosity on both sides, contaminating the genes of each line with its sworn enemy.

She had every right to lash out at it, Entrica thought, now taking the liberty of exploring various closed-off levels of the building. Her real duty, in fact, was to remove at least one from the world. And who was Algoran to enter the..._Algoran._

Why, why, why had she done all this? The question hung over her like industrial smog, but she'd been ignoring it for lack of an answer. But now, it was time to finally break it.

She backtracked in her memories. Even back before what she'd told him the forest.

"You won't get anywhere like that," Travent scolded. Entrica's habit of scrounging never went over well with him.

She didn't even look up from the ground to retort, "No sun for weeks. You're keeping up hope that it'll be back soon, but I'm thinking it's time to consider other options."

"Alright. What are you considering." His tone was bordering on mocking.

"I'm gonna kill a thing."

"You are not going to be welcomed."

"I'll eat it right out here, and no one'll see."

Travent partially climbed, partially slithered up a nearby tree. It stood out from the others in its crookedness and the way its trunk branched apart very low to the ground. "Since that's your thing, I'm just gonna let you do that by yourself. I'm not involved." He escaped in the treetops.

"Hmph." The leaves above rustled, snapping Entrica's eyes to the source of the noise. A juvenile Wind-Rider dove from the canopy, aimed for her eyes. With minuscule hesitation, she snapped two vines around its legs and gracefully directed the thing into a tree trunk. The -Rider dropped. "Fun." The sun set on Entrica's endeavors. It wasn't long after, as she remembered, that the forest was swiftly ablaze.

From there, things became more or less a compilation of rapidly evolving colors and shapes accompanied by pounding survival instincts. They were telling her that trees burn and to avoid burning a good strategy is to remove oneself from the trees. Her stumble-filled dash naturally progressed into full-force acrobatics, flinging her on short-lived vines through and out of the deathly heat.

At the edge of the forest, right where a funny human community had settled, she tumbled over herself till she could stand on her little feet again. Normally she would turn right around and go home, but this time she had to enter their ranks.

It wasn't hard to get around unnoticed, because the people were running all over and not paying the slightest attention to anything Entrica's height. She was having a pretty good run escaping from danger until an overbearing pressure clamped down on her mind. It was less on what seemed like one side of her head, so she ran that way. It grew less and less until she saw and heard the meteor of Focus Blast roar across and down from the sky. Then the compulsion brought her to the ground, where she had to stay for the remainder of the inferno's lifespan.

She reentered reality when the last live flames were dying into embers. The harsh mental vise disintegrated, leaving Entrica free to survey the place and move about. Maybe something left behind would give her and idea as to where to go or what to do. She certainly couldn't go home, as it was charred remains. If any of her family survived, they were far away by now.

The clue of what action to take next came from a smoking crater. In it was just about the most pitiful human she'd ever seen. The Scopes scuttling away from it signaled that it was still alive. They would take it if it wasn't. The heavy one still didn't return, but she did feel an inkling to take the body away. The only way she knew how was vines. She didn't know exactly where she was taking him...probably back to his house. She knew where that was….somehow.

In short, Entrica thought, she helped Algoran because she felt like it. And that probably had to do with that crushing urge beforehand. Really, she should have just assumed from the beginning it had something to do with that old unifying tradition. She was firmly on the side of being glad it was abolished.

She wasn't known to be absentminded; nevertheless, her own recollection had brought her outside the civil tower. The air was heavy, hot, and clouded. Smoke hung low in the sky, and the light from molten pools turned her and the surrounding, forbidden concrete structures an unsightly orange color. Near the dark waters of the nighttime bay where she took herself this effect was less.

Her tongue slid from her mouth and flicked in the open. It had given Entrica what almost seemed like a new sense—one that was now picking up on something most unpleasant. Lots of ash, yes, but some kind of….distrust. More so an unclassifiable scent she unwillingly associated with such a wariness. Rather than focus on what could be causing her to practically smell character flaws, she contemplated who she could be failing to confide in.

The only person she knew closely at all was Algoran. But he'd done his fair share of protecting her….he carried her through a tornado when she couldn't move on her own…..or was that it? It was. Meanwhile, she'd fought off more dangers than he could probably count. Town after town, attacking creatures went down at her hands. And Algoran didn't notice it at all. Not once had he so much as thanked her.

She might as well run away. Just leave him and his other friends and now his sister and see what would happen. But that was ultimately unwise. There were too many dangers now. Apart from the normal challenges a Regal constantly feared, like strong winds and pollution, fires ran out of anyone's hands and soot clouds followed their every step. Krehk would probably never agree to come with her, and Daimaru looked bent on staying with his colony and with Amirissa. Those two had a bond. Entrica could tell. Whether it was a relic of the tradition or coincidence was less obvious. The Samurits had always been more willing. The most willing, in fact.

Apart from the growing stress at reflecting on all her mounting impediments, Entrica was rather enjoying this session of deep thought. But it lost its value when the background pattering and clinking grew too intrusive to be ignored. She stood up and turned her back on the black ocean in a frustrated huff.

Advancing on her from behind had been a gang of Hoodlums. They looked back at her with wicked eyes. Once the presumable leader, the tallest one with the largest red crest on its head, settled into his resting slouch, the others did. They were all smaller, and some hadn't even evolved. There were seven of them: four orange, black and red Hoodlums as tall as Entrica, and three diminutive ones with yellow and red scales and developing crests on their heads. Each of them wore a rough cape or something of the sort fashioned from specialized scales. They all leered at her toughly, and she glared right back.

"We could use a pretty snake like you around," the established leader sneered. "Haven't seen one a' you in a good long time, but I reckon we won't need any more if you come along. I hear you know your way around a fight…and a few other things."

'_You're all morons. You especially, but the rest as well.'_ She was met with moderate, unkind laughter.

"Don't need brains no more, honey," another chuckled. "It's about survival now."

"That's right. So how 'bout you come with us, and we can live off the land together."

'_Not really up to it, honestly.'_

"Oh, come on. You'd hardly have to do anything."

'_You can go ahead and leave. Scat.'_

The Hoodlum's reptilian nostrils flared. "Actually, I don't think I like you very much." He and his squadron still didn't turn. Instead, the other one who'd spoken tossed a repulsive lump of slime in Entrica's general direction. She bent out of its way easily, but she couldn't help entangling its origin and tossing it skyward. It was an option she hadn't yet explored—to let gravity do half the work. At this, the rest of the gang advanced eagerly on her, snickering stupidly.

Entrica waited for them to all get just a little closer before engaging her Leaf Tornado. Its reverse pressure caught them by surprise and prevented their escape. She lost her touch on the ground. Hundreds of fresh leaves tightened their funnel before leaving her in seven controlled streams. They slashed at the Hoodlums and drove them back.

As if of a hive mind, they got back on their feet and returned to the assault. The larger, evolved ones held back, moving at a crawl with their fists drawn. Entrica hoped to statically deal with them by dispersing draining seeds about the crowd. Meanwhile, the runts came on stronger, chopping with their hands or bounding up for a jump kick. Again, while she wasn't accustomed to it in a second nature kind of way, Entrica found her larger body to be counter-intuitively agile. Both grounded attacks missed, but the flying kick grazed her side. She fell off balance, noticing as she fell to one side two of the larger members falling back as they lost some energy to the seeds. It was just what she needed to catch herself and spring to her feet easily.

The two that the seeds must have missed were ready. The billowing red aura about each's fist shocked Entrica's eyes before she received two devastating blows in succession. She first was forced near the ground, then thrown back. And somehow in her confusion the little ones got behind her and delivered stab after stab of what she knew to be poison, albeit underdeveloped and not likely fatal. Finally, somebody's Dark Pulse knocked her off her feet for good. She was face-down in the dirt.

Spit landed all around her.

Even after she was sure the desecration had to have stopped, Entrica still heard a pattering. It escalated into a heavy pounding, then the ground shook right near her. She caught sight of a rotund red-furred creature with its back to her. It carried some human on its back. The creature of unknown species clearly startled and frightened the Hoodlums. As its fists connected with them, rings of fire erupted and surged out for a distance. It went so far as to catch one in its flaming maw. At this, the human responded with a gentle voice, "Easy does it there, Clementine."

It was more than enough to scare the attackers off into the secluded alleys. Clementine's rider dismounted and helped Entrica to stand again. Almost at her eye level, Entrica could see the human was a woman, as her voice suggested, and that her hair particularly stood out. Humans had a habit of dying their hair for passions, but this case was very detailed. The tips were light-fading-into-dark-blue, then dark brown near the center. But a visor covered most of it. She also wore an odd little hair bulb on each side of her young face, and these were a foamy white.

"I'm obligated to offer you help back to the tower. But I understand if you want to hoof it."

Entrica very nearly shot out that she would walk, but she reconsidered at the thought of all the fire around. _'I'll take you up. Thank you.' _She thought it particularly unconventional that at this time she actually thanked someone for such a minor action. The woman had a demeanor that just made it seem like she'd do anything to save anyone. The ride back should have been rough, but Clementine handled it well. Entrica and the woman talked softly from time to time. Once there, they got their chances to return to their sleeping.

* * *

**Since I don't have any of the next chapter written, here's a preview of the new story.**

"What?"

"Is it yours?"

"It is your color." A's question was innocent, but B's response seemed rather serious for the situation.

"I don't know." C shook the object, first gently, then vigorously up and down. "It doesn't do anything."

B glanced back at the house. "Oh, D's off on...business...so we can show her when she gets back. Until then, we're keeping it safe inside."

**Their names aren't really letters. See, I played the pronoun game (kinda) so yo wouldn't know what it's about yet. It's fun, though. For those interested in its source material. Who knows? Maybe I can get a whole new audience. Tell your friends! Tell 'em the Masked Crusader sent ya! I just love hearing my own name.**


	12. Hostility From All Sides

**Hi, yeah, I wasn't here the first time, but I'm just popping in to fix a little...continuity thing there...there. Carry on. You won't even notice. But you would have if I kept it the way it was, that's for certain sure.  
**

* * *

_"Feel free to decline to answer, but are you aware you've had leaves on your head for a presumably long time?"_

Algoran put at hand to his head and rediscovered his personal foliage. "I am. I guess I'd forgotten about it."

Daimaru merely sniffed. _"You should remove them promptly. They're very unprofessional."_

"The thing is, they don't just come off."

_"You have half a dozen leaves actually growing out of your head?"_

"It didn't seem like so much of a problem when it was only two."

_"See Audino."_ A Pokemon called Audino had been acting as the Haven's primary medicinal caregiver. _"Hm?"_ he answered when his name sounded from across the room. _"Excuse me."_

Soon after he left, Entrica emerged, Stormburst at her side.

"You look...is that tired?"

_"Didn't feel like sleeping."_

Algoran brought Storm over to him and greeted him to some good neck rubs. "I guess I had a light one, too. Call it a link."

_"Apparently nightly sleep is something they take very seriously here. Some girl came out, found me, and brought me back in. Hadn't seen her around here before. Clementine either."_ At Algoran's glance, she included, _"Her Darmanitan."_

The volume from a large group of people swelled in a positive-sounding way, and assorted greetings floated over. A responding voice caught Algoran's attention. He turned to locate the speaker, and found it to be the tallish woman crouched next to a bulky, scarlet-furred beast. They had their backs turned. Algoran didn't need to see her face.

_"That's they now, actually. And you're off."_

He almost flew across the room, stopping only when he was stopped by Clementine's defensive arm. The woman halted mid-sentence when she met his eyes.

The Darmanitan stepped back as Amirissa stood up. A real, bright smile broke out on her face. "Algoran!" And she lifted him up for a tight hug. She was tall, and he wasn't. "You've got leaves on your head."

His face was buried, but he got it out and exclaimed back, "You're here! I didn't think you'd even still be alive, but I found you-"

"Doodle," she said in a kiddingly serious tone, using her age-old nickname for Algoran that came about because she didn't want to just call him dude. "I lived. I conquered. And now these are all my subjects."

"You're the boss Daimaru keeps talking about?"

"He loves to hear his own voice. In his head."

"That's awesome! Also, your hair's turning blue. And white, a little, right in the bulbs."

Amirissa put him down. "Yeah. I don't get it either. Sometimes I wish you were still little. Then I could hold you helplessly for longer. But-you said you found me. Algoran. Did you hike here all the way from Nuvema Town? Did anyone else-"

"If they did, I would've brought them." She drooped, and put a stabilizing hand on Clementine's back. "But...I got here."

Much of the previous light returned to his sister's eyes. "But you got here! That's right! Oh, I'm so glad you're okay after all this..." She brought him in again, this time down at his level. Then she backed off and sat down with a start. "How?"

Algoran joined her on the floor. By that point, Entrica had made her way over and was keeping to herself in the background. She overheard and joined their conversation at this cue.

"Entrica showed up, to be frank."

"Is that-it is Storm! C'mere, y' little bugger..."

"And him, too. So Entrica here showed up before she evolved, and she got me all fixed up from the attack. Then we went to Accumula Town-by the way, have you heard anything about using Pokemon Centers for people? I just remembered that, and I think you can now-anyway, we went through the Striaton Gym-"

Entrica interjected. _"_I_ went through the Striaton Gym."_

"Some of it. I pulled Storm out of the PC. He knows, what is it, Flame Charge now. Remember, we always wanted him to do that?" Amirissa was nodding and smiling wholeheartedly at almost everything he said. "And I saw almost an advertisement for Nimbasa Haven in Nacrene City. Entrica, have you seen Krehk around?"

_"I don't think he's awake yet."_

"Well, we met this Timburr named Krehk. We all tried to get away from a tornado together, but there was a pack of Throh already in the cave we went to. So we all ran to Pinwheel forest-"

"From the edge of the city to the forest? That's a big field. How did you get across there so fast?"

"Storm. He's quick on his feet. Entrica evolved in there. Then we spent a while being lost, and eventually got out and over Skyarrow Bridge. The rest you probably know."

"Mm-hm. Daimaru says you had a nasty run-in with the Big Bugs? Don't tell them I said that. They hate that name."

"We did. Where've you been all this time?"

Amirissa leaned forward to begin. "Well, you know I was here for school. Reshiram came flying in a couple of days ago, and we saw him while he was still a ways away. It looked like he'd been attacking the whole time. He got here, and by that time there was panic and evacuation happening."

Algoran suddenly got a chill as he remembered something. "We did see a lot of cars piled up down there."

"That's what happened. Daimaru just kind of came out of nowhere, and he kept me safe above all else. I still don't really know why, and he won't tell me. I don't think he knows either. He's a Water-type, you probably guessed, so he held up well. After he got me to the Kirs Tower, which, if you don't know, was actually engineered to be sturdy and to be a bunker if anything happened to the city, he started taking everyone he could find and bringing them up. Soon the Bug Pokemon from the gym here joined in, I guess, and Audino was already up here. I was the first human, and the next few people up felt like I was in charge. So everybody else did. Even Daimaru listens to me. And that's what went down. Also, we've been communicating with Nimbasa Haven. Daimaru likes to think we're affiliated, but we're really not. We just keep in touch. That's where I was. I met Clementine on the way there. I was thinking about different ways to go and rescue you, but never mind. Is that a Xtransceiver?"

"I think so. I found it a ways back. I don't think it works, other than being a clock. Sometimes."

"Oh, I bet we can get it working. Those things don't break easily."

It felt like only seconds Algoran had had to catch up with the sister he'd crossed the country for, but they were interrupted when several kids ran over and almost took Amirissa's arm off. She started tailing them immediately, repetitively vying for a clear answer as to their distress.

They finally sputtered, "Somebody's taking Gefy!" At this, Algoran stood up too and followed.

"They can't take Gefy! Would somebody please find Krehk!" Stormburst didn't stray from his master. "Entrica..." She hesitantly scuttled off.

It wasn't just one person who was making off with the kid. Rather, it was a whole group of seven Pokemon. They acted like a street gang despite being intensely visible with their bright oranges and reds and yellows in their scales. They must have entered through the window, which had a new shattered hole in it. The tallest of the perpetrators had his hand over Gefy's mouth and another arm around his whole body. The rest of his gaggle held back the people, many of whom must have been trying to do something about it.

These people parted when Clementine came barreling in, robed in raging flames. Incredibly, even the un-evolved members of the kidnappers stepped in to stop her, and, through strength numbers, did.

"Ay! Save it! We're gone!" this leader and chief kidnapper called. "Watch it," he followed warningly when he had to pull away from Stormburst's lightning.

Clementine knocked her impediments aside, but had no choice but to stop dead when the chief held Gefy at arm's length as a shield. She growled, showing tiny fires coating her teeth. Pushing through now were Entrica and Krehk, who joined Clementine in the confrontation.

"Is that you? Yeah, no way are we staying," the same member ordered. To everyone's shock, the group backed out the window. Looking down, they were nowhere to be seen. Until they momentarily emerged from the base and sprinted up the lava river road, committing impressive acts of parkour over the rubble islands.

"Everybody, rescue mission. Ready? Bugs, stay here. Clementine, Daimaru, with me. My guess is they're heading for the desert. They tend to hang out there." Amirissa brought her gaze down to Algoran. "I know we have together time to make up, and you've got a substantial team. Feel like a road trip?"

Algoran agreed and mounted Stormburst at her returning smile.

_"Have you seen what plants operate in the desert? Not I,"_ Entrica hissed.

It being mental, Amirissa caught the complaint, and replied, "I've been through Route 4 a few times now. Daimaru is an infinite source of fresher water that I've ever found anywhere. I think the hardest part is navigating the streets, and Clementine can do that just fine."

They were off. Stormburst found nimble ways across overpasses and leapt from island to island. For such times, Krehk had to reluctantly hitch a ride. Entrica often found herself taking aid from Clementine, who gave up the probably-safer route across land in favor of the direct route that was wading right through the lava. It wasn't noon before they all reached the mighty two-story gate at the city's north border.

Much unlike the one leading into Castelia, this gate was wide open. The spacious interior was dark, its power cut off. The corners were drenched in shadow, as was the balcony above.

But there was one dark patch in particular that became the subject of interest. It shifted with no visible stimulus. Entrica caught sight of it when she turned to watch their backs during another bout of distrust of the whole area. She quickly recognized it and decided it was what she'd been dreading since being on the bridge. She pushed everybody along when it opened one bright red eye and then the other. Its grotesque, fanged face was revealed when the flames normally coating its neck ignited. The rest of it was either covered in thin orange fur or heavy, matted black blankets. It marched forward menacingly, releasing a reverberating roar. It turned into raucous laughter.

_"Sorry about that. But the way you came in here, all cautious-like, I had to take a stab at it."_

Amirissa took the lead fairly quickly. "Thanks. Maybe we needed a scare to keep us on our toes. We'll just let ourselves out."

_"Out where?"_

"Route 4." The monstrous pig-man-Pokemon darted as fast as he probably could over to the other side of the hall, smashed a wall-mounted metal box, and a ribbed door came thundering down. It was almost too dark to see now, so the pig spit a fireball high into the air, where it caused a previously invisible torch hanging precariously from the ceiling to flare up. The room flickered scarlet.

_"No, I'm afraid you're not going out there. Not ragtagging like you are. The sandstorm's just so rough right now."_

"Sir, how long have you been here? Because just last night it was only this Darmanitan and me coming through here."

_"No 'sir'. Only Torc. A while. Long enough to get that torch up there. I'm just looking out for you is all. You've got a Servine that won't last that dry, a Darmanitan that'll get smothered, a Timburr who can't run, and maybe worst of all, a Blitzle. Do you know how many Ground-Types are out there? Too many, in my experience. Really the only useful guy you got there is the Dewott. He might stand a chance."_ At that point, all the Pokemon he'd insulted were glaring back at him. Even Stormburst, whose mind was typically off somewhere.

Algoran felt it time to speak up. "That's not really fair. They can't help their type. I bet there are places you wouldn't do well in-like the ocean. And that doesn't prove they can't handle it."

_"Ha! We're nowhere near the ocean, are we? Look at that city. I'm in my element. In fact..."_ he began scratching under his fire beard with one thick, dirty-white claw. The action lit that hand's black fur on fire in its entirety. _"it's been a dumb couple of days. I've got nothing else going on. If you're so focused on getting there, you must have a good reason. And you must have some sort of plan of action. So bring that guy up, yes, the Dewott, and let's see what he's got."_

The Dewott in question turned back to look at all of them. Amirissa nodded assuredly. "You got him. Just get him wet."

_"It's Daimaru,"_ he corrected, positioning himself a good distance away from Torc, facing him. The latter had already moved to the far end of the hall.

_"Let the games begin,"_ he snorted.

"We should move up there," Amirissa quietly suggested, directing the now-spectators onto the balcony, which wrapped all the way around the inner walls.

Daimaru stood his ground and steadied himself, while Torc pounded straight ahead. He jumped forward a few feet before reaching his target, becoming no more than a bright meteor rocketing forward. Daimaru jumped out of its way long before it would have been a close call.

"He must have known he wouldn't hit that," Amirissa commented to herself, but everyone could hear. "If I'm right, that looked like Flame Charge, so he might just be building up speed. Which, on such a big frame, is concerning." It was just a little unnatural-looking, the added swiftness on a bulky pig easily eight feet tall.

While in his dodge, Daimaru whipped out his two shells, and from their curved edges, twin jets of water sprayed out. Torc was ready for it, brushing the shots away with a raised arm. He thrust his open palm through the water, wincing just a little. It didn't quite reach, but the near impact threw Daimaru backward all the same. Torc wound up and released a brilliant stream of fire from his piggish nose, covering a wide area with a wall for Daimaru to careen through. It singed his fur, but the blaze didn't faze him. Not even the fall winded him-he broke his impact on his hands and caught himself.

"Daimaru!" Amirissa called down. "Water Sport!"

He made a quick nod, unsure if she could see it. Instead of a focused shot, he set his shells to douse the area. It wasn't a deep layer, but the standing water on the floor and some sliding down the walls would serve to weaken Torc's fire capabilities. As of yet, he wasn't relying too heavily on them.

As if to demonstrate his alternative options, Torc curled up and threw himself down. Rather than crash to the floor, his body disappeared inside a rough stone as large as he had been. It spun in place before making its way to bowl over Daimaru. He aimed one shell at the floor and one at the cannonball. Both expelled jets of ice, one disrupting the stone's path and the other freezing a ring on the stone itself. Combined, the lack of friction sent Torc spiraling away on an unpredictable path.

Daimaru followed at a sprint, keeping close to the out-of-control ball. He was prepared when the rocky coating disintegrated, spraying dust about. Torc was there, on his feet, miraculously balanced. Daimaru wasn't there. He drilled through the floor and into a self-built tunnel as soon as Torc's attempt ended. That balance was disrupted when he burst up through the tile and Torc had to quickly defend behind himself. He threw a blazing punch, but Daimaru was already out of range. Water was streaming from his weapons now, but it wasn't going anywhere. It was confined to the form of a classical sword, albeit a blue and quivering one, in each of Daimaru's hands. He slashed and feigned, circling Torc and sometimes changing directions. The much larger fighter had a hard time making sense of the blurring swordsman.

Daimaru finished his onslaught with a high-pressure spray that steamed as is escaped. The boiling water blanketed Torc, who responded with a burst of dirty brown smoke that billowed across the floor.

It was visible, even from a distance, when Daimaru's fur took on a, indigo and then sickly purple tone. "That's bad luck," Amirissa said. "I really hope he pulls this off. I don't know how we're going to get out there otherwise—we'd have to climb the wall. Maybe the Scraftys put him up to this so no one could get out there and find the kid."

Algoran pulled her back from her speculation. "What's happened to him?"

"I think that Smog poisoned him just now. So he'd better be winning soon, or that'll get him."

Daimaru was clearing the pollutants from his eyes, but Torc wasn't in his view anymore. He was brushing the ceiling, having made a flying leap. He was soon more of a meteor than a rocket, falling from the height all wrapped in fire. Daimaru only just sped out of the way before the fireball touched down, blowing a crater into existence that obliterated the smaller digging hole. Torc directed the force into a line, cracking tile and throwing Daimaru into the air with pointed rocks that sprouted beneath him.

_"Hate to go so all-out, but it's for your own good!"_ Torc yelled, maybe to Daimaru, maybe to everyone.

"_It's like he's proving to himself that we won't be able to handle the desert, not to us," _Entrica muttered.

Daimaru closed his eyes tight, trying his best to block out the feeling of where he was and concentrate. He knew he was damaged from the fight, but he could still pull out a victory. His bearings returned when he spun himself upright in the air. A trail of water was left behind him when he pointed his blades in front of him and blasted from the sky to the ground.

By the time Torc felt it, Daimaru was on his other side. Torc reached out for another open-palm thrust. Rather than with Daimaru's face, it was met with the foaming crest of a looming wave that swallowed the pig. Daimaru remained in his place at the epicenter, and sent a bubbling pulse through the currents. Torc fell backward under his liquid weakness, only to be struck by the submerged jet. The water dispersed, but Torc failed to reclaim his standing. He collapsed, dazed.

He brought in his last resort. He pounded his fist into the floor and sent white-hot fire into the earth.

Great erupting fires smashed the floor and scorched the ceiling, each closer to Daimaru's position. He, too, took the hand of a Pledge. He thrust his sword downward, pumping water below. This burst into similar pillars, inching toward Torc and piercing their blazing counterparts when they crossed paths.

Right when it looked like Daimaru would disappear in the fire, he blurred. Wisps of color that used to be in his shape zipped right through the otherwise accurately aimed pillar and seemingly through Torc. The water attack hit its mark as well, throwing Torc through the air. He hit the ground and didn't get up.

_"Yeah, okay. You got a shot. Go on."_

Daimaru cautiously approached his sprawled body. _"Are you sure you don't need any help...?"_

_"Just shove off."_

Daimaru tilted his head toward the door, which he reactivated upon investigation of the control box. Light rushed in, along with roaring winds and rushing sand. The whole rescue group came down to move forward, but Amirissa was there first, to congratulate him.

"Kept it close, didn't you?"

_"Yes. He was further evolved than I am, but I had the type advantage. So it was nearly even."_

"Oh, shoot, you're still poisoned, aren't you?"

_"Yes again."_

"Okay! Everyone, there's a medicinal outpost somewhere along the road here, so we're going to find that ASAP."

It seemed like they wouldn't be able to find their own hands, let alone a far-off building, through the sandstorm. But they marched right in anyway, for the sake of Daimaru and ultimately Gefy.

}====={

Just a few minutes in, Stormburst was looking shaky. He finally lost the gumption to keep going.

_"It's the sand,"_ Entrica said. _"It's probably getting to him."_

Amirissa looked around, finally having Clementine hold her higher. There really was nothing to be seen at eye level - they were all relying on Amirissa's and Daimaru's previous experiences with the desert route.

She came back down and said, mainly to Algoran, "If you keep going that way, there's kind of a room you could stay in a get him figured out. Stay there. Daimaru doesn't have that much time before he faints, and we need him around. So once you're done, come looking for the little blue house."

Algoran rounded up his group, and with a last wave, they split from Amirissa, Daimaru, and Clementine.

They walked for a while, and, just as she claimed, a forgotten construction site faded into view. There had been plans to build a sort of living complex out in the middle of nowhere, mainly because the area was all sand except for the dirty river running behind the site, and the contractors had seen an opportunity to advertise it as beachfront property. They scrapped the thing halfway through. The accepted reason was because no one wanted a condo in the desert, but the more free-minded theorists decided it had to have been because of paranormal unrest from the nearby desert ruins.

Whatever the case, what progress was made paid off in letting one kid and his Pokemon have a break from the dusty winds. The progress was only a semi-room with thin cement walls, a sandy floor of the same rock, and no roof. Above were the skeletons of other rooms made from steel girders.

"Okay, let's get this guy back on his feet," Algoran began. They'd had to drag Stormburst along. He had a special pocket in his bag for this sort of thing, although it had been a long time since he needed to use its contents, as he mentioned to Entrica and Krehk.

"I'm gettin' a vibe," Krehk said, eyes narrowed. "It ain't a good one. Hold up." He inched outside, lumber outstretched, to check around.

Algoran loosened the lid of the spray bottle he'd dug out. Contained was a thin purple liquid. He pried open Stormburst's mouth and emptied the contents by means of the patented single-spray nozzle.

"H should be up and at 'em. Now, I hate to do this, but it might be best to keep him out of the sand." Algoran had also brought out Storm's dull Pokeball. The miniature zebra was reduced to a red shadow and then a stream of energy into the ball, which Algoran put away. "There."

_"You said there's a river near here? I'm going to go find it."_ Entrica was making her way out of the room when a splitting thwack sounded from somewhere. Krehk arrived from the direction of the sound, surprisingly without his log in hand. He did, however, hold something of the kind. It looked like a misshapen cactus.

"Jus' use this." He threw the plant on the floor, and it became clear that it was a Pokemon. Algoran would have said something about it, but Krehk smashed it open. "A real trooper, that. Split me log when I hit it. guess I don' know me own strength. Watch it," he said, as he put a segment into Algoran's hands. "Still pricky."

What had once been a cactus arm was now a cup filled with water the plant had been saving for the desert heat. Krehk dropped his when he was finished, his eyes turned just a little spacey.

"Krehk? You alright?"

"Yeah - hoo, the snake's righ', this is a trip - back up a ways..." He froze in place, the strain permanently evident. Algoran had a hunch at what was going on, and it was confirmed when a shining white-then-gold light enveloped the Timburr. It made its pillar up and out of the room, and his silhouetted body floated up a few inches.

It also grew. The upper half did, anyway. Krehk's legs weren't seeing much help in their diminutive size. His upper body was seeing great improvement. It was the source of most of his new height, such that he could almost stand eye-to-eye with Algoran if he stretched. The bony protrusions on top and behind his head shrank and disappeared, replaced with a helmet of probably bony lumps. The pink rings around his shoulder, while no longer pink, noticeably expanded to the size of large dinner plates.

He did manage to speak through the sparkling sounds and roars that came with evolution, but it was distorted, like many of him speaking at once. "Be glad when this's done—yeeeeEEEAAAAHH—" His exclamation turned into a growling roar that went on until the process stopped and dropped him out of the air. He had to break the fall with his hands, as his legs weren't of much support. His eyes had noticeable darkening around them, and that tough pink material had shown up in more structures, like the stabilizers on his arms and chest. The oddest part, though, was his new nose. It used to be small and black, like an animal's, but now it was round and red, like a clown's.

"Alg'ran!"

"Yes, Krehk?"

"Ch'ck these out!" He flexed way too hard, showing off the biggest pink rings, the ones around his shoulders. Algoran came a little closer.

"They are impressive."

"No, feel 'em."

With some hesitation, Algoran rested his hand on one. Similar to how they'd been before, it felt like stiff rubber.

"Good for you, Krehk. I'm sure you're too good for logs now."

He raised his eyebrows. "You're righ'! I need somethin' new." He dug his hands into the concrete and scaled the walls up to the height where the metal beams were. With iron grips and strong twisting, he pried a segment just wider than his arm span from the structure and brought it back down. "This. This's me weap'n now."

"_Now that that's over, can we get back on track? I'd really like to get out of this storm."_

"Right, yes," Algoran affirmed. "To the house, where Amirissa is, and surely we'll be fine along the way."

"C'rse y' will. I gotta met'l stick."

* * *

**He's got a metal stick.**

**In all honesty, I really think the Emboar would win. Conceptually, it seems even, with the type advantage cancelling the probable level advantage. But Emboar is also Fighting-Type, so he'd have other options. Obviously though, for the sake of progressing the story, Daimaru had to win. Oh, and look at that, a milestone! Really. This is a big thing. Algoran finds his sister. That's what we've been shooting for for twelve chapters. Now he needs a new motivation. Did I hear someone mention Nimbasa Haven a while ago? Yes. Yes, story happens over there.**

"Here it is! Everybody in!" Algoran ushered the others through the narrow doorway before slamming the door on the storm and pursuer outside. Only seconds after, it smashed into the wood.

**(That was a really itty bitty teaser.)**


	13. Below the Sand

**What's my solution to a really long wait for no real reason between chapters? Make the wait even longer, duh. No, but I didn't want to be gone for months and come back with a piddly little "here's your 1,000 words for sticking out the gap good job guys round up next week". So I took some more time and threw together a record-holding 7,000 words, not to brag. Hope you have some down time.**

* * *

"Wow. I really don't want to go out in this," Algoran remarked, peeping his head back into the roaring sand. The deserted construction site, or rather, its fractions of buildings, served as a shelter.

"Buck up," Krehk commanded in response. "'S not the firs' time y've had to pow'r through somethin', an' it won't be th' last." He walked his entire self out beyond the concrete walls. He lasted a minute or two before returning. His face was scrunched up and sand was still rolling off the top of his head, but he assured Algoran and Entrica there was nothing to fear.

He was adamant, so they all buckled down and made their way through the desert storm. All they were trying to do was get back to the road they'd left so they could follow Amirissa's trail. It couldn't have been so far that they walked on the other trip. And Algoran didn't recall any lakes of waist-deep sand, either.

During the trek through one such pool, Algoran was looking, or trying to, through the rushing sand and missed the sharp rise up out of the deep. He tripped and landed his face in the ground. Adding to that, a pile of possibly-useful stuff spewed from his bag.

_"Looks like the desert just disagrees with you,"_ Entrica commented, keeping her course. Krehk stopped and returned everything with one armful. He pulled his girder out of the sand and Algoran to his feet.

"'S that yers too?" He pointed at the red, now-sandy device they almost left behind.

"It is," Algoran said. "I remember this, too. Never really used it." He flipped its two screens apart. They must have been illuminated before being opened, because the gray startup screen was on the way out.

Algoran expected the listings to be empty, as they mainly always were when he stayed close to home, but now the Pokedex went wild. Lights flashed, computerized bells chimed, and slot after blank slot lit up with the recognition of a new Pokemon.

"Look at that," he replied. "Seriously, take a look. You guys are all in here."

"'F it makes me out t' be any less th'n I am..." Krehk growled.

"Ah, nope, nope. Says here you carry steel beams and show off your muscles."

"Tha's fair."

"And for Entrica...ooh, masterful. Good word. 'Masterful whipping techniques.' This 'read aloud' thing could be good…"

_"I bet."_ She expressed her distaste for lingering in the desert, and they moved on.

Finally, after their struggles, they reached the point where they could see a wooden house off in the distance. All that remained in the path was a deep, wide pit of sand.

They crossed cautiously, but still managed to attract the attention of the indigenous critters. Dozens of sandy-brown, black-striped, quadrupedal reptiles surfaced and made chase.

"Why is everything in the world out to get us?" Algoran bemoaned, picking up his pace. That wasn't easy, given the clingy terrain. If it wasn't for those heavy-duty boots from the Haven, he'd be barefoot. Anything else would have been sucked into the deep.

"This isn't fast enough!" Entrica warned. She too was clearly unsuited for traveling like this.

Krehk lowered his head, turned his body, and glowered dramatically at the approaching force. Some of them had risen even more to stand on two legs.

"Go 'n. I c'n take 'em all."

_"Krehk, that's foolish."_

"It'd be w'rse if we kept goin' like this!" he shouted back. That put her off.

Algoran, however, had learned to be passive toward what his Pokemon wanted to do. They knew better than he what they were dealing with anyway.

"A'right, y' clods. COME ON." Algoran and Entrica left him behind in the storm, the sounds of blows landing and jaws snapping behind them. Also behind them, they heard rapid footsteps through the sand. One of the Pokemon the 'Dex identified as a Krokorok had escaped Krehk's onslaught.

"**Krokorok. The Desert Croc Pokemon. Ground, Dark. Intimidate or Moxie...**"

"Entrica, you could probably take him, right?"

"_Not when I can barely move. I can't get a good footing._"

"Great. Okay, let's just speed up." They made their way through the deep sand as fast as they could repeatedly unbury their legs. Algoran shouted when he neared the house, "Here it is! Everybody in!"

Algoran ushered Entrica, who couldn't help responding, "_Everybody? We're the only ones!"_ and then himself through the narrow doorway before slamming the door on the storm and the pursuer outside. Only seconds after, it slammed into the wood.

"Storm's here too."Algoran slid to the floor and caught his breath. The stress of the day had caught up to him. He was starting to get into a regular pattern of crashes like that. In the safety of the building, he released Stormburst. "Yeah, good to see you too."

Some kind of crunch sounded from right outside the door. Seconds after, Krehk threw it open, his outline filling the doorway now that he held a limp Krokorok at his side. He threw it into the sand-drifts. "One of 'em got behin' me." It fell nose-up, revealing a mutation. All of them had stripes across their snouts, but they had been black or dark gray. This one's was red. Algoran had begun to see a pattern. First the bird, then the fish, now this—they all had an odd red streak.

Algoran started. "So, Amirissa's not here." There was no mistaking it. It was a one-room shack they were in. Despite that, it looked somewhat like a living space, if only temporary. Maybe it was just the bed. Whatever the case, it was a shelter, and Algoran took the bed instead of the floor for sitting on.

"_Well, wrong house."_ Entrica made her move toward the door, but Krehk closed and blocked it.

"No."

"_Yes, actually. I think we're all getting _very _sidetracked from the mission at hand—"_

Krehk pushed her away. "We're not goin' out. 'S somethin' out there. Fer our safety."

Algoran got off the bed and stood assertively. "I'm not going to sit here in this house when Amirissa's somewhere we still don't know." He found himself eye-to-eye with Krehk, who was highly intimidating that close.

"I don' want anythin' gettin' hairy, but ther's somethin' out there. I c'n tell—"

"Krehk, I'm _not_ letting her get across the country from me _again_!"

He dropped his girder on the floor, where it cracked the planks. Surprisingly, Krehk didn't retort to Algoran's explosion.

"Yeah. Righ', I'm gonna wait outside. Ther's, ther's…be better t'morrow…" He lumbered backwards out the door, and through the one front-facing window, Algoran could see he and Entrica were barricaded inside by his muscled body.

Algoran turned back around to see Entrica leaning against a corner, smirking. "Yeah? What's that about." He went back and sat slouched on the bed.

"_Didn't know you had it in you, that's all."_

"Well, she's my sister. My…only sister, and I've made it this far to find her. Plus, I don't even know what he's talking about."

Entrica stayed quiet, but after a while continued, _"I know."_

Stormburst kicked his Pokeball around. "Thanks," Algoran said absently.

"_No, I actually know what he's talking about. I have a bad feeling."_

"Well, you had that before we got into the city, and that went really well."

She lifted herself off the wall and started walking in slow circles. _"But there was also the pois—_Leaf," she strained, "_and that weird street gang, Torc, and then the red stripe thing…I think something is going on around this place."_

Algoran looked up from Stormburst. "You've been seeing those too? And I didn't think Torc was so bad. He was just looking out for us, even if he was a little overbearing about it."

Suddenly, the door slammed open and brought again rushing wind and Krehk's broad frame. He reached in and retrieved the metal beam from its crater saying, "Need this," and then left.

"Well, a nap never hurt anyone," Algoran said brightly. He lay down on the bed, which, as all cushy furniture did nowadays, felt like a pile of feathers. In reality, it was probably really cheap. "Except maybe people who fell asleep on guard duty."

"_Krehk?" _Entrica said telepathically. _"Are you doing guard duty? Pound the door for yes."_ The house rattled with the impact. _"And we're good to go."_

"Are we sure he doesn't need sleep?" He had Entrica ask. Another punch. "Maybe we'll sleep that long. Looks like it's only afternoon. But I don't care much anymore." Algoran kicked his boots off onto the floor and soon felt one with the mattress.

}====={

It had turned night when the sounds of a scuffle woke Algoran. Right outside his window, he could see the darkened shadows of Krehk and a bunch of other things. Some looked like Krokoroks, and some were just ovaloids with stumpy arms and legs. He fought off every one. The process was easier for him when he figured out to take up one of the little ones and squeeze it to turn it into a flamethrower. It was hard to sleep with fire blazing outside the window.

It had woken Entrica up, too. _"Yeah, just keep it away from the house," _she muttered. By firelight, Krehk mouthed something back.

Algoran felt something coming from Entrica's mind. "Entrica? You cold over there? I've heard the desert does get chilly at night."

"_No."_

"Hm. Alright." Even so, just as he was about to drift back off, he felt and heard the bed shift as Entrica mounted it. He felt a rare mixture of comfort and satisfaction.

}====={

"How much c'n you two snore through? Get outta there!" Krehk swept Algoran and Entrica into his arms and threw them away from the fire and onto the chilled sand. Stormburst scrambled out too, and Krehk made one more trip for Algoran's bag and boots. He came back looking mildly burned on the surface, but he kept on. "Put 'em on and let's go!"

Algoran tried as best he could to slip his feet into the boots while keeping his grip on Stormburst as they rode out of the damage range of the flaming house. Rubble crashed down behind them.

"_Krehk!" _Entrica shouted furiously. _"What did I tell you not to do?!"_

"They wer' righ' on top a' me! An' the lil' guy was ready t' shoot!"

"Finally! What a way to send for help!" Algoran immediately looked to where Amirissa had called from. It was a happy reunion.

"It wasn't us," Algoran explained through another of his sister's tight hugs, "It was collateral damage."

"_Now what a concerning place to take shelter,"_ Daimaru remarked. Around them were sandstone pillars covered in etched pictograms. Beyond them, towers and boxes short and tall stood scattered in the desert. They looked to have been constructed in long-lost ancient times.

"Where's Clementine?" Algoran asked, looking around.

"She's in her habitat now. Don't worry. She's very well trained. She's just going to stay around the other house. We can go find her anytime."

Krehk was already on his way. "Not stayin' here, no sir!" he announced as he hustled back the way they'd come.

Amirissa's mood rapidly shifted to tension again, and she was just as rapidly working the Xtranciever Algoran didn't know she had. "Quick, get yours out!" she commanded. He did as she said, and she managed to set up a link. "If we get separated, call me, okay?"

"Okay, but why"—and then an explosion rocked the ground. There were towering dunes in the distance, and from behind them a looming cloud shot up and kept growing. A low buzz came with it, and as the shape approached, it bulged into a consuming roar.

"C'mon! Guys!" Krehk shouted to them from across the field, but an arm of the swarm bowled him over. The mass of flying creatures made a ring and then a huge dome around the area. Amirissa pointed toward a lonely tower and motioned for them to come running. Entrica and Stormburst took off, but Daimaru stayed behind.

He said to Algoran, "_I'm covering you. Follow them, and I'll make sure Krehk gets back._" Algoran nodded, and ran after the others. In the time he spent looking back, a group of guardians tightly surrounded him. He caught flashes of their alien appearance. Green, black, yellow, and blue striped over thin wings and a spherical center. Each had a lot of things that looked like they could be eyes, but nothing was definitive. Algoran was afraid to even put an arm put to disrupt the flow. They were rushing around so fast; they would probably take it off. Something did interrupt them, though. One out of the crowd got frozen solid, and dozens more crashed headlong into it. It gave Algoran time to escape. Daimaru saluted him from afar.

"**Sigilyph. The Avianoid Pokemon. Psychic, Flying...**"

Algoran felt a large body right behind him. "Up y' go, lil' man." Krehk hoisted him into one arm. With the one free arm he had, he deftly took a rock out from the ruins around, tossed it into the air, and swung at it with the steel beam. The stone shattered, and the pieces knocked some of the Sigilyph to the ground.

A straight purple jet shot from somewhere in the storm buried itself in Krehk's head. He tripped, throwing himself and Algoran to the ground. Algoran yelled at him to get up, and, in a blur, they made it to safety. Daimaru followed later.

Once they all hunkered safely inside the tower, Daimaru barricaded the doorway with solid ice. Sigilyph pounded against the walls, leading Amirissa to uncover a tunnel through the floor. She ushered everyone underground. Krehk had trouble making it down, not because he was too big, but because he was holding his head and staggering.

Below was a dark, sandy tunnel that couldn't have seen human travel for millennia. It was just one small part of a catacomb, with other paths breaking off. It seemed all the more eerie in the dim yellow-green light Stormburst cast from his stripes.

"Thanks, guy," Algoran said to him. "Krehk, what's wrong?'

"I don' like 'em getting' in me head!" he thundered. Dust trickled from the cracked ceiling.

"Mm. What was that then…Psybeam?" The Pokedex contained a list of possible moves for every Pokemon it had in it. He could study this.

"Maybe. It doesn' matter."

It occurred to Algoran that his sister knew exactly what to do to get them out of the swarm. He asked her.

"You know, it's kind of cathartic. People said I shouldn't be studying mystical history because it didn't have any applications, but it saved our lives just now. So this is the ruins of an ancient civilization highly adept in stoneworking. It used to be guarded by Sigilyph, and they're immortal, so they're still here. You're not supposed to enter certain places because they don't really know of modern people and Pokemon, so they think they're aliens or enemies.

"Here's what I'm worried about now. I was thinking we got way off track looking for that kid, but I'm almost certain now he's going to be in here. These people were entirely devoted to their religion based on sacrifices to a sun god. There're still some groups that come down here to find it. Humans don't do so well, but Pokemon can find it easily."

"So you think the Scrafty brought Gefy down here as a sacrifice?" Algoran finished for her.

"Maybe I'm not _certain_. But it's definitely not out of the question. Who here has an innate sense of Fire-Types around? Bugs?"

Entrica's tail twitched.

}====={

Under Entrica's direction, the crew navigated a labyrinth of dark tunnels that crawled deeper and deeper into the earth. No wind, no light found its way so far in, and their footsteps were all that echoed to the front and back of them. Otherwise, it was dead silent, but Algoran had to insist he heard someone speaking. It sounded a lot like "what" or "why", faint and infrequent, and nothing like any of them.

"_Here,"_ Entrica said, stopping at a wall of sandstone flanked by two pillars. They probably would have taken it for a dead end otherwise, if not for the distinct heat flowing through the wall.

"Step 'side." Krehk pushed his way to the front, and wound up for a hefty punch. The stone practically melted at the touch of his fist, and he fell forward and down an incline to the chamber within.

Algoran squinted his eyes at the sudden rush of light and heat that billowed forth from the doorway. Inside was a giant moth, as big as or bigger than a grown man. Its body was fuzzy and white and its eyes were bright blue, but most of its apparent size came from its wings. There were six of them, all as bright and orange as an evening sun. "Hold on, Krehk!" Amirissa called as she entered as well. Entrica, unsurprisingly, stayed back. Stormburst galloped in after her.

Algoran began to enter with Daimaru, but a wall of sandy wind very suddenly rose up in front of them due to an attack from the bug. He fell back, blinded. He coughed on the dust and felt for a wall to lean on. As was the nature of the place, he felt his foot slip into one of many pits meant to trap intruders. He got his vision back as he fell, but lost it again when a rope wrapped around his ankle and he swung headfirst into the hard stone wall of the hallway below.

}====={

Krehk swung hard at the Volcarona, but it moved to hover just above his range. Then, with a flap of its huge wings, it spun Krehk around in a miniature funnel cloud. It was enough to kick up dust throughout the chamber. With the disturbance came the equally disturbing contents below the sand. Five carcasses of Scraggy and Scrafty alike had been burned and buried here.

Amirissa didn't see them. She was outside, looking around in a panic for where Algoran might have gone. She brought out her Xtranceiver and tapped in his number. It rang for minutes before she gave up and tried again. Meanwhile, Krehk was almost managing to hold his own. Stormburst joined the fight eventually, tackling the moth while coated in electricity.

Lightning crackled as Stormburst fired again and again. Krehk took an armful of stones from the floor and lobbed them one at a time, mostly missing. One hit its mark, and it threw Volcarona into the back wall. It recovered, bouncing itself off the wall and cartwheeling toward Krehk. Its burning wings brushed over him in succession, and he finally escaped the onslaught, burned all over. He collapsed on the ground. Stormburst leapt after it as it retreated, striking it square in the center.

Amirissa rejoined them, Xtranciever still active. Stormburst was still up and fighting, but he was inapt without instruction. Krehk looked down and out, until he rustled. He got to his feet, trembling. He gave a roar that shook the ceiling, and even looked to take the Volcarona by surprise. Stormburst took a few steps back as Krehk ripped out a block of wall and took up his girder. He tossed the rock into the air and smashed it apart with the beam. Dozens of smaller rocks tumbled toward the bug, and it fell to the ground beneath the avalanche. Krehk jumped atop the stone pile and furiously dug through until he came across Volcarona's insectoids face. He delivered a punch that knocked it out straightaway.

"Krehk…you gotta teach me to get a second wind like that!" Amirissa exalted.

"Yeah, it, uh…it happens when I need it."

In the center of the wall behind the altar atop which the Volcarona had floated, an pictographic symbol lit up, and a brick slid out. It turned out to be not a brick at all, but a drawer. Inside this drawer was a very shaken-looking kid.

"Gefy! Did the Scrafty put you in here?" He nodded silently.

"Tha's not right." Krehk whispered. Amirissa assumed he meant the kidnapping, but when she glanced at him, he was peering down the outside hall. Some kind of mist was rippling across the floor.

"Krehk, why don't you just stay in here for a while, and we'll figure what we're doing to do to get this poor kid home, okay?"

"…Yeah. Yeah, w'll do that."

The Xtranciever lit up, and a stuttering transmission fought to get through. From the successful words, Amirissa found that the people of Nimbasa Haven needed her back right away.

"Oh, they wouldn't _need_ me if they just had a system," she grumbled, unable to send a confirmation of any kind. "Now we really need to hurry out of here. Did either of you see where Algoran went?" She scrutinized the floor outside, and found the a hidden pit. "Oh, no…"

"He's down ther'?"

"Should be. It's a good thing we didn't go for him sooner. These usually have delayed knives to cut up anyone who tries to go down after someone who fell in. Nasty stuff. But I need you two to find him. Krehk, I know you can bust your way out if you have to. And I hate to make you stay down here to find my little brother, but there's a lot of people that're counting on me."

"Don' feel bad. Kid's me duty now, too."

A mighty crash shattered the ceiling and the pillars flanking the door to the shrine, Clementine fell through. A man-sized eagle of muted blue and red descended soon after. Amirissa sat Gefy on the Darmanitan's back.

"Clementine, hon, I can't even tell you how happy I am that you chose now to smash in here. But right now, I need you to take him back to the city, okay? And Gefy, I can't come with you. I need to go somewhere else. But Clementine's going to take you. Off you go, girl." Clementine climbed up through the hole in the ceiling and left into the darkness. Amirissa mounted the bird, which spread its wings as she ordered, "Away, Braviary."

Krehk, alone with the Blitzle, thrust his arm into the unknown beneath the pit. "Huh. A'right, time to find 'im."

}====={

Entrica's vision blurred and cut out as a wall of sand came up in front of them. She felt Daimaru grab her hand and pull her away, yelling for her to follow, but in a brief moment of vision, she spotted Algoran tipping toward a pit trap. She escaped Daimaru and threw out a vine to hold Algoran there, but he had already fallen. The rope gripped his ankle, and she felt a mirrored pain as his head hit something below. With a sudden shock, an unknown blade cleaved through the vine. Entrica lost sight again in a storm of pain.

When she regained herself, she and Daimaru were far down the hall from the chaos. Daimaru picked her up and said, "_We should get back to them. There's a Volcarona in there, and it's dangerous."_

"_Hold on. Algoran's still around here."_

"_He's probably unconscious. He'll stay put," _Daimaru assured.

"_Then he might get eaten! And if he is, then I did that to him, so it's my responsibility to keep him safe."_

"_There's nothing in here that can get him. Just come on back."_ He started going, but Entrica stayed. He turned around and took her leaf-hand again. "_Come on, let's go."_

Entrica jerked out of his grasp. _"No! It'll only take us a quick trip down there to find him."_

"_We're going to help Amirissa."_

"_You know why you want to help her so bad? She's your trainer. She's not mine. I don't have a duty to her."_

"_No, you just don't want to go back there because you're scared of that thing."_

"_I am _not scared _of a false god!"_

Daimaru came back, closer to her. _"Well, you should be! It's two of your type weaknesses."_

Entrica advanced on him in return. _"Don't _talk_ about my _weaknesses!"

"_They're nothing to hide; they're just part of you!"_

"_That's easy for you to say," _Entrica threatened. "_You only have two!—" _

"_Entrica, that's not my f—"_

"—_and I'm one of them!" _She shot out two whips, which wrapped around Daimaru and squeezed him breathless. He opened his mouth to gasp, and Entrica siphoned his energy from it. Visible orbs of power drifted from his mouth into her body. She tightened her grip before lifting him, and then slamming him into the floor.

Daimaru caught his breath before springing to his feet. He and Entrica faced each other for a brief second, and at the same time, they moved. Entrica snapped a vine at Daimaru's feet, but he jumped out of the way and ended up behind her. He jabbed one of his shells into the back of her head and delivered a jolt of ice. She shuddered and crumpled to the ground.

When she got to her feet again, Daimaru gave her one stern look before turning and heading back. Entrica took deep breaths as she cautiously descended into the pit.

}====={

Algoran fell into a fit of coughing as he came to. He'd been inhaling floor dust. That was normal in the catacombs. But he was now in an unfamiliar hall. It looked about the same size, but the walls were smooth and rounded, making a tubular space rather than a square tunnel. There were many more pictograms and ancient characters on the walls here than there had been.

He rubbed his head, which was still aching from the impact it suffered. He looked up to the ceiling to see where he'd fallen through, but found nothing. It hadn't been audible over the steady pounding from his skull, but as that cleared up, Algoran was sure now he heard whispering.

He looked down the hall, first one way, toward a dead end, and then another way, toward a diamond-shaped room with a low stone table in the center. He went that way.

Algoran brushed some of the sand off the rock, finding another collection of undecipherable letters as he did so. There was one picture with them, a minimal etching of a coffin. That wouldn't have been surprising on its own, but the thing that chilled him about it was that it was portrayed with an arm extending from each corner.

He back away from the table and through a distinctly cold patch of air. He swatted it apart, but as he did, a smoky body coagulated in front of him. He watched the last of it pass through his stomach from behind him. A golden bust of a young face emerged from the cloud, but as a clearer shape solidified, a tentacle appendage turned it around so Algoran couldn't see it. Soon, a head and two curved arms appeared. The head was pointed almost into a beak, and two globular red eyes gazed into his.

Algoran wasn't quite sure how to greet the ghost now facing him, but it remained mostly expressionless. As they stood, its mournful eyes widened and a singular red tear welled up in each. It wrapped its three-fingered arms around the bust and wailed as it receded into a corner. Algoran took this as a clear sign of submission and crouched down, moving slowly towards it.

"Okay, ghost. I'm not here to hurt you. I just fell down into here. You can even tell me how to get out." All that happened was an increase in crimson tear flow. It started making a reverberating sound like sniffling. The spirit was much too pitiful to be left crying, and Algoran was prepared to sit there and try to console it.

It shrieked and shot into the wall as rapid padding footsteps approached. The bust, which looked actually hollow enough to be worn like a mask, clattered to the ground. Algoran reached out to pick it up, but found it to be shockingly cold to the touch.

"_Algoran, I had to do a lot to get down here and find you. Now, what are you doing. You're staring at the wall."_

"I was comforting a crying ghost, actually." He really, really wanted to be mad at her for scaring the spirit away, but she also did come rescue him when he really didn't have an escape plan. "Maybe now we at least have something on our side so this place doesn't try to kill us anymore."

To his great surprise, the same ghost barged back into the room, making its unearthly fearful scream again. The wall it came from crumbled in a shower of stone and dust. Behind it stood a dirty Krehk and Stormburst. Seeing the mask on the floor, the ghost timidly went back for it.

"I don' know how, b't I swear we wen' down the same hole you did, an' ended up all th' way back ther'." He pointed down the long corridor behind them. It was fraught with collapsed pillars and rubble. Stormburst galloped in and stopped to nuzzle Algoran. Daimaru followed inside.

"_Amirissa's gone," _he announced.

"What? Where'd she go? She can't just _get out_ of here!" Algoran insisted.

"_Clementine punched through the ceiling with a Braviary, and now Amirissa's gone back to Nimbasa Haven. Clementine took Gefy home."_

"Well, nice of her to take the rest of us with her." Contrary to its nature, the ghost had started circling around Stormburst, and had even pet him a few times. "Right then. Krehk, I don't mean to ask a lot of you, but…do you want to make like Clementine and get us out of here the quick way?"

"Pff. Askin' a lot is makin' me fight off a flock-a Sigilyph on me own." He threw his girder into the ceiling with enough force to bring it down. Slowly, they all made their way to the next floor up, much to the specter's fright. They kept climbing until they broke onto the top of a tower on ground level. It was dawn, there was a mist, the air was cool, and the sandstorm was dying down. It was a near perfect sight to see coming out of an underground fortress.

From there, Algoran spotted the road to Nimbasa City. Like Castelia's, a wall hid the main city from view. He knew which way they were headed. They all lowered themselves from the roof while Algoran stayed fixed on the right direction. On the ground, he looked at the ghost and said, "We tend to pick up friends as we go. Do you feel like coming with us? I don't really know where we're going in the end, but you'll have us." It slid back into the dark recesses of the tower. "Oh. See you. Or not, I guess."

The winds hadn't completely gone away, but the land was at least navigable. The air was clear enough to see through, and the mist helped to humidify the place. They arrived at the gate later in the morning. For the first time in a while, it looked like the sun was going to stay out.

"_I'm just saying, be prepared for disappointment," _Entrica cautioned.

"I really don't think it's destroyed. I just don't."

He entered hesitantly to find Nimbasa City in its current state—still standing. Completely desolated, but standing.

"_Where's everyone?" _Entrica questioned as she they looked around.

"_They're here," _Daimaru answered. "_They just hole themselves up. Without a real authority system, there aren't tasks divided among everyone. They just don't believe the survivors should be bound by a government. With the world as it is right now, they think they should be able to start over and have a truly people-run society."_

"It _sounds _like it should be chaotic, but there's not much of that."

"_In small numbers, it can work,_" Entrica agreed.

"So is it just total anarchy, then?" Algoran continued questioning the whole arrangement through Daimaru.

"_Well, you heard there's no hierarchy like Castelia Haven has. Doesn't mean they don't have a _leader._ There is one person. Oh, while we're on the topic, that's where Amirissa is. You'll have to wait to see her, though. She's got to be busy."_

In the meantime, Daimaru led them to a building that looked like a classy museum. It turned out to be a pristine subway station. He said they could set up shop wherever they felt like, and that that's what everybody always did.

"I don' mean to provoke anythin', really, but after all tha' I've been rarin' fer a fight. Y' know this city, don' ya, D'maru?"

"_If you really want to go looking, there's a Pokemon gym on the east side. The Pokemon in there run it themselves now. You'll get a safe match."_

Algoran looked over at Entrica and Stormburst. "Should we?"

"_You've got plenty of time, so feel free. I'd come with, but I don't think I'd be much of a help. …Type."_

"If you're sure. Alright, then. See you in a while."

}====={

It turned out Daimaru had meant the far, _far_ east side. The gym was on the edge of the city, and for the trek there, it didn't look all too impressive. More like a semi-permanent circus tent. The iconic gym logo was still lit above the door, and the one-room structure was glowing electric blue. Just inside was a ladder descending into an unknown dark basement.

"_I bet it's going to be really huge down there,"_ Entrica predicted. She was right. The garage aboveground was misleading from the expansive complex below. Monorail tracks lit in every neon color twisted in intricate patterns far above a blue grid floor. Way, way across the hall there seemed to be a destination area. Similar metal platforms to that and the one they stood on were scattered about.

"Well, now we have to think…" As Algoran looked for a way across, a sleek white car rolled up on the track next to them. He tracked the rail with his eyes until it would deliver them to a safe stop further toward their goal. "That'll do it."

The space inside seemed roomy enough until they started loading up. Algoran and Entrica were able to sit in the front single seat, but it was more of a struggle to fit the other two comfortably in the back. It ended up that Algoran had to select another Pokeball from his back and make it Krehk's. Stormburst didn't quite feel like going in the ball right then.

It seemed like there should have been a challenge waiting for them as they let the strained car be on its way, but with the gym in Pokemon control, no trainers were there to meet them. The tracks got more and more violent, the last one sending the group into a series of brutal loops. Algoran climbed dizzily out of the cab, followed by Entrica and Stormburst in similar condition. Lights in the shape of a Pokeball flashed cheerily above the stage they came to rest on. Algoran released Krehk.

"Hoo, don' know what y' wen' through t' get up here, kiddo."

"Yeah, it was great. Now let's just wait and see what ambushes us."

A menacing bolt of lightning crashed between floor and ceiling on either side of the arena.

"Ah, s'm electr'c buggers," Krehk chuckled.

"_I'll be able to take the hits," _Entrica offered. From behind a metal beam in the ceiling, a blur of a Pokemon swooped in. It swiped at Entrica before soaring off into the air again. "_And now I'm going after it." _

She jumped up and sent a whirlwind of leaves chasing after it. The squirrel-ish thing swerved and dodged the vortex, but it got pulled off-course. Instead of falling, it caught itself, turned around, and came back in for another attack. It approached Entrica faster than she could react and slid its tiny claws across her scales as it passed. She yelped in pain when the assailant was already long gone.

**Emolga, The Sky Squirrel Pokemon,** the Pokedex finally announced. **Electric, Flying.** Algoran's eyes widened.

"Entrica! Stop fighting it! It's a Fl—a Wind-Rider!"

"_I knew that!"_ she yelled, as the Emolga flapped away into its hiding place.

"Time t' give it a shot," Krehk rumbled. With two hands, he pulled the coaster car right off its track and pulled it apart. When it reemerged, the Emogla would take it to the face. It didn't—the tiny thing was agile enough to easily duck out of the way. In response, Krehk smashed the other half into pieces and sent those raining down. Only a few bits struck the flying squirrel.

It went for Entrica again, but Krehk slapped it out of the way. A visible electric charge went through him, which almost brought him to the ground. Stormburst's fur bristled, and he leapt into the thick of things. He pulled out of the way of the Emolga's hands, but he wasn't prepared for it to change direction on a dime and, letting off a small gray pulse behind it, strike the Blitzle square in the back of his neck.

Algoran wanted so much to do something to help, but there just wasn't a weapon around. All he could do was watch his team be completely outmatched by one aggravating flying mouse. It ended with the thing forever vanishing into the roof with a cheeky chittering noise, as it had incapacitated everyone with a static charge. He used up the only Pokeballs he had left to carry them all, and took an emergency exit out alone.

}====={

"_You all right?"_ Daimaru said as Algoran returned to their camp. "_You guys didn't lose, did you?"  
_

Entrica glared darkly at him.

"_Don't feel bad if you didn't get past the Emolga. If someone's going to lose, that's usually how it happens."_

"Yeah. Had to take everyone to the Center across town. Can you at least tell me Amirissa's back?"

"_Yeah, she's over there."_

"I heard everything," she said as she returned. "That's too bad. You'd be fine if it was just Electric, trust me, but you really don't have much of a team for Flying-Types."

"I just feel like I should be able to do something to help instead of just watching those guys fight."

Amirissa looked up at the ceiling. "You know, I've been thinking about that too. You basically fit all criteria to be a bona-fide Pokemon trainer, save for…how do I put this lightly…knowledge in the fine art of battling."

"I guess so. Do I need a teacher?"

Entrica looked over at him, but stayed quiet.

"Exactly what I'm thinking. Don't worry. She's got tons of experience. And you won't find a man or woman in the region with a deeper link to their Pokemon. I actually already brought it up with her once."

"_Couldn't hurt for you to know what you're dealing with when you meet something new," _Daimaru gently agreed.

"Well, if you can put me through, I'll give it a try. You're right, Daimaru. It couldn't hurt."

"Great. It might be a little late today, but we can go find her first thing tomorrow."

}====={

For Algoran, tomorrow didn't come quite as soon as he'd hoped. Some persistent bug was itching at his brain, and he lay awake for over an hour realizing he didn't have closure yet. It took him a while to come to terms with what he had to do to get it, and that he was going to have to explain himself to Entrica.

There was plenty of room in their subway station, so Algoran was able to slink over to Entrica's solitary bed of foliage, and he was prepared to softly shake her awake. Instead, she rolled over and looked up at him.

"_Yeah, whatever you're thinking about, it's keeping me up, too."_

"Sorry. Look, I just have to go back and find that ghost. I just…"

"_Nope, let's go. Get your horse. We can be back by dawn."_

Stormburst had also had trouble nodding off. He was glad to burn excess energy as he carried Algoran out beyond Nimbasa's border, back into the desert, and toward the ruins.

Algoran was scanning the distance for anything he recognized, until he realized Entrica was no longer beside him. He looked back to see her scurrying back to the city in a dead sprint.

"Where in the world are you going?" he called across the distance.

"_Don't feel bad; I forgot too!"_

"Forgot what—" he lost all sense of sound in a blast from too close a range. The shockwave knocked him off Stormburst's back. As his eyes opened to the night sky, stars snuffed out behind a cloud of raging Sigilyph. Within seconds, he and Stormburst, and even Entrica, were surrounded with no weak spot present in the dynamic wall.

"_What do we do now!" _she yelled, running back over as Algoran picked himself up. Various dangerous-looking projectiles struck the ground around them from the swarm. Psybeam narrowly missed, and a haze of Air Cutters kicked up sand all around them.

Unexpectedly, the cloud parted at the top of the dome. A mighty gust of wind was pushing the immortal guardians out of their flight paths. An avian shape coated in red energy light came blazing down out of the sky. It stopped, the funnel cloud behind it clearing the sand from Algoran's face. A strong arm pulled him and Entrica onto the Braviary's back, and it took Stormburst in its claws. Even with a greatly increased load, the bird still soared just as quickly and forcefully. With a great flap of its wings, a vast knife made from wind opened a slit for them, through which the Braviary escaped the Sigilyph force.

"Believe me, I'd really like to ask what you're doing out here, but I can't say we've met." The Braviary's rider, whom Algoran hadn't even noticed in the blur he just got pulled through, turned around and let the bird take them on its own path. On her lap was the strangest-looking Pokemon Algoran thought he'd ever seen.

"It's…Algoran," he said, taking a tighter hold of their ride.

"Hi. Free up a hand, thank you"—she shook it—"I'm Zoe. It's great we should run into each other, because I think I'm supposed to be your mentor now." The Pokemon she held in front of her locked her gleaming eyes with Entrica, who stared back suspiciously. "Who's that back there?"

"_Entrica. I could ask you the same."_

Zoe didn't respond. Instead, to Algoran, she said, "Your Servine. Or does she not have a nickname?"

"_Okay, she's on my bad side."_

"Entrica. That's her name."

"That's pretty. Can I ask how you got it?"

"It's her real name. She told me."

Zoe seemed confused, but a look of clarity hit her. "Oh, because you're Amirissa's little brother. Got it."

"Right." Algoran had no clue.

Zoe's Pokemon had a horn sprouting from its head that had grown into a giant, intimidating mouth. He didn't know when that maw had closed, but it was now, in a toothy grin. The rest of its body was only about as big as one of those mouths, but it had a face of its own, which was offering a cute smile that harshly contrasted with the malicious-looking teeth. Its horn mirrored the shape of Zoe's own red ponytail.

"_Would you talk to her?"_ Entrica persisted.

"So, Entrica wants me to say that she's been talking this whole time and…you just haven't heard it?"

"It's not unheard of. We can figure it out when we get back. In the meantime, I'm getting to know everybody. Who's down below?"

"That would be Stormburst."

"Seems like he's raring to evolve anytime now."

"I…wouldn't know."

"Is your Pokedex going yet? If not, this is Mawile. Say hi." Mawile said nothing, but its horn-jaws clicked together a few times. "And Braviary." It gave a loud screech. Zoe turned back around and steered them out of their holding pattern and down towards the roof of a tall building in the downtown area. The landed softly, Braviary dropping Stormburst from a few feet up before its sharp-toed feet touched down.

"So…should I be going home now, or"—

"Amirissa said we'd be starting at the crack of dawn. But, we can get a jump-start right now. Up and at 'em, Algoran. Let's make a trainer."

* * *

**Zoe is property of NemoTheSurvivor and was implemented with permission and communication. She hails from the fanfiction Beddleman's Island which is available to read right now and is much easier to find via search than something as general as White. You've got a while before Chapter 14, so spend your time over there. You get a backstory on Zoe if you do.**

**I've been waiting to say that.**


	14. Duped by a Double

**Hello, yes, hello friends, Chapter 14 again, because the last one had less than satisfactory direction. Instead, accept this here much-more-dynamic and action-packed thingahoodle.**

* * *

Algoran processed a jumbled list of steps and cautions over and over in his head. It was muddled at first, but the most important bits were floating to the top: Get the Emolga to slow down, for which Zoe had prescribed a move that Krehk hadn't learned yet, but Entrica knew Wrap and that was also an option; Stormburst was going to be an asset in shocking the Emolga out of the sky, even if it wouldn't hit too hard because of the type matchups; and finally, Zoe's last proverb to him, just leave everything on the field, especially when fighting the last Pokémon. She said it was purely Electric-Type, and the best strategy was to mostly save Entrica for that. Zoe had run through all this on a walk. Mawile ran to the front of the group and apparently began explaining the exact same thing to the other Pokémon, to Entrica's unheeded annoyance.

With the teachings firmly in his head, Algoran and his three-part team stood right down the street from the Nimbasa Gym, which was draped in so much neon its light was visible from around the block. Zoe kept up the theme of drilling and re-drilling the game plan.

"You still remember everything?"

"I know all the stuff you said I'd need for this..."

"Okay, we'll go over the full system again if you need it later. But right now, you guys need another battle, another win, and we want that Blitzle to evolve. Right?"

"Exactly." Under Zoe's training, Algoran had learned the entire Pokémon type system, the substantial, to him, lists of the attacks his team knew, and had been in general made to see his battles and adventure in a very different, very organized and taxonomical way. He wasn't particularly used to it, but it was the language Zoe spoke. Therefore, when she taught him, she did so the way she learned, which was in quite a different way than he'd been using.

When it was more about survival and progress, all Algoran's Pokémon acted at once, often on a single target. But in traditional battling, it was equal-in this case, one-on-one. While they did that unorganized fighting they were still getting stronger. Based on what things they knew how to do, and apparently some other factors, Zoe had calculated each of their levels, which were important. Entrica's was 29, Krehk's was 32, and Stormburst's was 26.

Finally, while they walked to the Gym and discussed battle strategy, Zoe placed one small purple ring in Algoran's hand. The numbers 06 were etched in its plastic-like coating. As he expected, she ran down what it was: A "TM" to give to one of his Pokémon to teach it an attack, and when she added there were over a hundred of them in the series, he thought of them as one of the most useful things in the world. In response to that, she passed him another, this one green and denoted as 22.

They didn't look edible, but that's how they were apparently used. Krehk pointed at Stormburst and got the Blitzle to open his mouth for the TM to be tossed in.

"I thought you were going to ask for it," Algoran said after Stormburst scarfed it down.

"I was, but I know what one's that is. 'S Toxic, and a lot'a us can learn it, but 's not always pretty wh're the poison comes from. I don' feel like barfin' on th' competition."

"And that's Solar Beam," Zoe said. "It's for Entrica only. Still, you know, save it for the last one. No Grass on Flying. It's a bad idea."

_"I like the idea...but it seems just a little artificial..."_ she started, but was silenced when Krehk snatched the TM and almost punched it into her mouth. She sputtered and swallowed.

"Tha'll do it," Krehk concluded.

_"Krehk!"_

"Yeah."

_"Don't!...Ick. That was _so _sweet."_

The lights of the Nimbasa Gym flashed brilliantly into the evening, ushering the ragtag group inside.

}====={

Several dizzying coaster rides in, the battlefield was set and an Emolga swooped down from the ceiling. Krehk stood front and center on the challenger's side of the floor, with Algoran, Entrica, and Storm a distance behind. Zoe was even further back, keeping quiet at Algoran's request to not help until he asked. Without a word from Algoran, Krehk pulled a handful of foundation out of the floor and chucked it into the air. It landed right on target and the Emolga spun off-course.

It got back its balance and shifted to a less predictable flight pattern. It looped and swerved, before making a sharp turn and barreling into Krehk from the side. A shock ran over his body as Emolga vanished into the rafters.

"H'alright," Krehk said, catching his breath. "So, goin' about th' same."

"Don't count on it. We have our plan now. I just...didn't think it would come for you so fast. Remember to use the time, though."

"Righ', yeah." Krehk turned back around and went stiff. He held himself steady, practically flexing all over. He lifted his girder and readied it for when the Emolga showed its face again.

In a streak of color, it careened down and a straight shot toward its target. Krehk intercepted it with one, then two blunt hits with a metal rod. Dazed, it flopped to the ground.

"Okay, good, good work, Krehk," Algoran ordered, "Now get in here and Storm, you take it." As they switched, the Emolga recovered and tried to make a lunged toward Krehk, but Stormburst stood in front and blocked its path. In retaliation, Emolga quickly shocked him too and retreated. Storm's hooves quietly ignited, and he leapt after the receding target, missing by a long stretch. He turned into a full-fire meteor before landing upright.

The first phase of training had been all about statistics and classifications. It was the second part that was really about battling. Zoe said this was the way she learned, and that Algoran was already on his way. It was a focus on the Pokémon themselves, letting them choose their attacks. But it wasn't random—the training had taught them what to do whenever a certain kind of event happened. Counter incoming tackle-like attacks, use any down time to boost stats, and attack while the opponent reoriented itself. These were the kinds of tactics they used, and Algoran was there to oversee the whole thing, and keep it in line.

"Ready, buddy? Toxic...now go!" Storm needed a few more spoken commands than the rest of them. A spray of purple sludge erupted from the tip of his horn and coated the Emolga's fur before sinking in. Its face took on a sickly hue of the same purple color. "Got it! Finish the job." Stormburst poised himself, fired a quick lightning bolt to again mess up the flight, and then jumped to the Emogla's height. He left behind a visible dark bubble which, with his new and expanded knowledge Algoran recognized as the recoil from the move Pursuit. Then Storm pounded Emolga back to the ground.

"Take him out, Algoran! You're doing great-third of the way through," Zoe said. Mawile rattled off the same encouragement with clicks and snaps.

"Yes, right, you heard her! End it, Storm! This Pokémon is a nightmare..." Lightning cracked off Stormburst's hooves. Somewhere in the ceiling, a rustling could be heard. Soon after, the exact thing Algoran thought he never had to see again came shooting down: another, identical Emolga. He was stunned for a second, then realized this gym had duped him.

"That's not supposed to happen," Zoe remarked, with some concern showing up in her face.

"Why are there two?" Algoran turned sideways to look at Zoe and keep watching the battle at the same time.

"'M game! Two-on-two," Krehk declared. He ran with the girder back into the fray.

"Not that. There's always two. But not at the same time...this is definitely different."

"I didn't even know there _were_ two…" he went on, in a contained panic. "That explains some things. Time for a Double Battle, then."

One Emolga escaped from Stormburst's line of fire, and the two of them soared around in tight arcs. As they neared the ground each time, they'd try and slash at someone with their little claws. Finally, Krehk ripped a chunk out of the wall and tossed it into the airborne chaos, and one of them dropped. As it stood up again, it hiccupped a few purple bubbles and fell backwards. It left only the one Emolga still flying.

Algoran was ready to take this one down quickly, but Zoe warned him, "Don't get into that habit. Pull one of 'em out." After a moment, he had Stormburst poison the other Emolga and then called him back. Krehk stayed in and tirelessly catapulted rocks into the air. With the ceiling dented and lots of wiring exposed through the walls, the second Emolga fainted as well.

Krehk backed up and for the first time all battle, Entrica took her place on the field. With a resounding metallic boom, a towering equine creature dropped from the ceiling to the floor, which really wasn't a huge fall for it. Its head was far above Algoran's, and its mane made it even taller. This white mane swept upward into two horns, and ran down its back in a line of serrated plates. It had jagged white stripes on black fur, and its tail ended in a tuft of white fur that sparked with electricity. In the end, it looked like a bigger, meaner, stronger Stormburst. Then Algoran realized why Zoe hadn't told him what the last Pokémon was going to be...she wanted him to be surprised. And he was.

"You said he was going to evolve...into that? It's huge!" Algoran's Pokédex activated, but he shushed it. It only managed to declare, "**Zebstrika, th-"**

"Well, only the one-stage evolution. It has to make a big jump from cute and cuddly to big and scary," she answered.

Entrica hovered off the ground. After she dispersed some seeds onto the field and opponent, leaves appeared around her in a familiar cyclone. The opposing Zebstrika stood almost statue-esque, only snapping its legs out of the way as it weaved around nearly every razor-edged leaf that flew its way. Entrica forced the entire tornado at it, and while it did get caught in the winds, it was seemingly unfazed.

Zebstrika charged. It combusted, but Entrica's focus was locked-on. She ducked off to the side, catching two hooves in a vine snare. The Zebstrika looked like it would have made a clean turn otherwise, but its flames went out as it slipped and crashed to the ground.

It scrambled to its feet in a fury, but it was already constrained within Entrica's tightening Wrap. The lightning bolt Zebstrika discharged out of desperation grazed her face. Almost no time later, its horns jabbed her right above the eyes and stunned her for the second it needed to let off a burst of fire and blow its fibrous cage apart. Entrica swallowed a pained shriek and soaked up the incoming Leech Seed energy.

She took an electrified tackle hard. Zebstrika left her sprawled across the field. The ache was still there, but the strategy they went over made sure to detail seed rules. She had their service handed over to Krehk as Algoran sent him out.

Krehk charged into battle holding his girder like a lance. He prodded Zebstrika every time it tried getting an attack in. It got so frustrated it slammed a hoof into the floor, leaving a dent and electrifying the ground for an instant. Krehk stumbled, but he recovered with a strike from the beam that sent the Zebstrika skidding backwards. He followed up with an onslaught of metal and cement shot-puts he took out of the floor and walls.

When a spark burst from the tattered wall, Algoran said, "Krehk, try something else now, okay?"

"But this's workin' good!" Indeed, the constant battering of stones was keeping Zebstrika at bay, but now it dashed forwards again. Krehk wound for a devastating blow when it got close enough, but this time, it leapt over his head and let off a discharge from its horns. Its aim was almost dead-on, but the sapping of energy from the seeds embedded in its fur threw it off. The lightning bolt flooded into an open wire. The already weakened floor grates shook as the Zebstrika made a rough landing, far from Krehk.

It landed heavily right at Algoran's and Stormburst's feet. Krehk turned around and started running to meet it, but it was already standing up with a mindless rage in its eyes. It reared up, but its legs buckled as Storm zapped it with his own, smaller shock. Krehk stopped to watch and even Entrica got up to see.

Before it could even try and make a last recovery, Stormburst pummeled it every which way with fire and lightning alike. Finally, after a very deliberate Thunderbolt hit Zebstrika right between the eyes, it fell back to the wall. Any electric energy it still had in its body shot into the wires. It collapsed and didn't get up. The lights flickered.

"And there it is," Zoe congratulated. Entrica and Krehk came back to Algoran for celebration, but Storm didn't move from his stance. He was trembling.

"Come on back, buddy," Algoran coaxed. "Let's get out of here before you evolve." Becoming a trainer at heart gave him a very real kind of excitement to see his childhood friend transform into a forbidding powerhouse. As Storm took a few shaky steps toward all the others, the lights blew out. The only glow came from Stormburst's ever-lit stripes, and now a dim golden evolution warning.

_"Nothing below us but machinery, and the cars won't work without power," _Entrica listed.

Storm delicately put a hoof on the track, and sparks flew off. Zoe did the same thing with her hand, and came to her conclusion.

"There's still plenty of energy in here...it just won't run. Algoran, how many people can he carry?"

"However much Entrica and I count as."

"I'd let him evolve to be bigger, but it could bring down the ceiling at this point. Here's what we can do..."

At her direction, and Algoran's tweaking, they built up an unconventional cart. Krehk balanced his girder across the rail. He sat right on the middle, with Zoe and Mawile to his sides. Algoran and Entrica were loaded on Storm's back. Entrica threw out two thick vines, which Krehk and Zoe tied firmly around the metal beam. Stormburst backed up, then ran and jumped off the grated floor. This finally caused a piece of it to break off and fall to the mechanical dead zone below.

His momentum combined with the reaction between his body and the energy in the rail turned Stormburst into a makeshift car. He kept his legs still, but they all sped along. Sparks shot off his hooves and from the girder being dragged behind.

"This's th' kinda thing y' oughta live fer!" Krehk exclaimed over the screeching metal in an adrenaline-fueled blur.

When their speed threw them out the front door, the contraption fell apart and Storm exploded at the first opportunity. The shining pillar lit up the street and lifted the Blitzle into the air. Inside, he grew all over, with longer and leaner legs, a strong body, and a tail that ended in a fluff of electrified fur. A second jagged horn sprouted, and the new Stormburst landed finely on the pavement. He looked frighteningly akin to the fierce Pokémon just defeated.

There was a very clear...something Algoran was feeling. Call it learning how to be a real trainer or a resurgence of memories with his pet, but he could definitely feel a pride and celebration over the milestone.

"You set off to evolve him, and he did." Zoe must have read his mind, because that only added to his accomplishment. "My advice...when a Pokémon evolves, it's just been thrown into a new body that it isn't used to. It's not always ready to just jump back into routine."

"We're done with the battle...is that good enough?"

"Take him for a ride. I'll take everyone else home." They said goodbye, Zoe passing him one more approval.

"Proud of you," Algoran whispered. He climbed once again onto Storm's back, sitting much higher than he had before. They moved forward, slowly, then faster, and Stormburst broke into a sprint. The air rushing past was cold, but it was the first recreation Algoran had had in a long time.

They ran all around the border of Nimbasa City, and, just for a second, somewhere in the shadows of an alleyway, Algoran thought he locked gaze with two big red eyes in a smoky, ghostly head.

After a timeless romp, the two arrived back at the subway station. A thick pink haze was drifting out from under the door. Algoran cautiously parted the doors, and with a sniff of the gas, Storm keeled over and was asleep before he hit the ground.

The stuff was thicker inside, so by touch, Algoran found his way to the stairs down. In the lower room, thankfully, was a clearing. In the very center was the physical manifestation of a dream voice, **"Musharna, The Drowsing Pokémon..."**


	15. Adventure the Next

"_You aren't thinking I'm here for anything good,"_ Musharna mumbled. Algoran sat on the floor in front of it, but it floated just above the bricks, a soft pink lump in fetal position.

"You're a dream creature that's all of a sudden appeared in the real world. That doesn't seem like the kind of thing that happens casually," Algoran answered.

"_Less even than that. Welcome to a waking dream."_

"Hey, that reminds me. You said I'd get a bunch more lucid dreams after the first one, and I haven't had any. I was looking forward to those."

"_Hmph. Don't pretend you _get _it. I've been busy. Still, you make an alright transition. The reason is that there's been an intruder prowling around. It's not really a dreamscape Pokémon in my sense, but it plays with illusions, and there's kiiiind of a blurry line between the full scope of what it can do and what I can."_

"O...kay. So is this thing dangerous? What am I..."

To demonstrate, a lanky shadow sprung up behind Musharna and reached out a serrated red claw. It jumped and sprung away when it reached the edge of the pink clouds.

"_Celestial Tower. If you ever wanted to...y'know..."_

Algoran had no idea where that was. It might as well have been on the moon with the chance he had of coming across it. Instead of saying that, though, he explained, "I wouldn't count on that...kind of sounds like I need another adventure, and I don't think one of those is in the future."

It wasn't enough to get Musharna to open its eyes, but the corners of its mouth curved up just a bit. _"Don't try and out-predict me. You'd be surprised."_

Amirissa appeared from the mist, and when Algoran turned to see her, Musharna and the dream dust vanished with a bang. Algoran blinked what felt like sleep stuff out of his eyes as he got sucked into a hug.

"Please forgive me for using the name like this, but...we have to talk, Doodle," she mumbled, somewhat ominously.

"Wait-"

"We got a message in a bottle dropped off. Kind of. Somebody's Woobat got a psychic message, and Moto says he'd like one of us two to stop by. But you know how much I've had to jump from place to place. I just...I want to go, but I have a responsibility to the people here."

Krehk thudded over to their conversation. "I'm hearin' talk of anoth'r big trip."

"And that's true," she continued. "You've got experience in taking a grand journey, don't you?"

"Yeah..." But he also had experience in barely avoiding death, getting jumped by wild animals, and fighting through unfamiliar terrain. Nimbasa Haven was still, safe, and now that he'd beaten the still semi-functional gym, the city had...no more left to offer. Not without society functioning as it had. "Yeah," he said with more certainty. "I'll go find him. Where is he and how long do we have?"

"He made it sound like he wasn't in too much trouble, so I guess you can take your time. Opelucid City. Which is north-east of Iccirus. Once you get through the mountains, it's just a straight road east. You shouldn't have any trouble there; just get through those caves and you're practically there."

Algoran had never had to deal with caves before. Except for once, the one that they'd then had to abandon and leave to the pack of Throh already there. "I'm hearing caves and mountains."

"Either, really. The road's set up so you can either go through the caves or over the mountains. Take your pick. But listen. I know you don't know Moto all that well, but you have to understand...he's important. You gotta listen to him, and he wanted someone from our family."

"Nope, it's okay. I've gone and made myself want to."

"Love you, Doodle. There, I said it again. You can always call me, right?"

"Right."

}====={

"_I'll be honest. I can't get inside your head," _Entrica commented, sizing up Mawile again as she often did.

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Well, where does that Zoe get off? You can't say no to her."  
_Mawile looked awfully puzzled. _"Trainer...? I know you can't say the same," _she added, snickering, _"You and that boy met up on some pretty shaky terms."_

Entrica knew one thing: she didn't want a fight right now, especially given her target's metallic skin. And with history in consideration, it was usually she herself who was the instigator. _"Circumstances weren't helpful."_

Mawile clicked her great jagged steel jaw and said, _"If you want to hear about it, we've got an hour before you're leaving."_

The two strolled through the city, both finally coming to a civilized talk.

"_You're just so submissive to her," _Entrica persisted. Mawile listened, then answered,

"_Maybe you call it, submissive, maybe we call it trust. What _I'm _confused about is how after everything you two have been through you still don't feel totally invested in him."_

"_Of course not. He doesn't know anything. I was the only thing keeping him alive when we started out."_

"_There it is. 'When we started.' But he's learned since then, hasn't he?"_

"_...Maybe. But part of it's just when Krehk came along and added some power." _Entrica sighed. _"You and Zoe are a good team. How long have you been together?"_

"_Long time. Way longer than you guys. That's part of it."_

A long time of silence passed, during which Entrica was content to think, but Mawile paced in circles and kicked rocks around.

"_Be honest," _Mawile finally interjected. _"Do you really want Algoran to die?"  
"No!"_ Entrica said with a start. _"I never did. Don't ask why."_

Rocking back and forth on her heels, Mawile started, _"I'm going to tell you something. I heard about it a lot when Zoe and I were new. It's this thing about the starter Pokémon. I guess they were bred to be man's best friend, in a way."_

"_I know about that. I just didn't know there'd be such a strong mental push."_

"_See, I was hearing about it because...well, I'm not one." _Mawile offered a meager smile. _"They were only given out some trainers, less and less, it looked like."_

Entrica laughed quietly. _"He's got leaves on his head."_

"_That's...has he talked to his sister about that?"_

"_She said it was all part of the starter thing. You look at gym leaders, and they all have weird-color hair, and it's actually because as you bond with one Type of Pokémon your appearance starts to change to reflect it. Which I guess gives some merit to the whole...Type system."_

She never said it out loud to Mawile, but Entrica thought this was the final nudge she needed to start feeling like Algoran was really...a partner.

}====={

The gate to Route 5 was waiting. Algoran saddled up on Stormburst's back, with a bag stuffed with a Pokédex, Pokéballs, and a brand-new rack of TMs. Also included were better survival essentials. Mostly bedding. Stormburst proved he could easily carry the three of Algoran, Entrica, and Krehk, but Krehk adamantly refused. He would walk as far as they went, and Entrica too agreed to the prospect of working her short legs. She was, after all, built for speed, as she cited.

"Don't forget your job," Zoe cautioned. "I know you've been used to your own style, but the Human-Pokémon is reliable. And there's no reason you can't reconcile the two...kind of did that already in the gym battle."

"We'll figure it out," he assured. Mawile waved goodbye to Entrica, a gesture that surprisingly got returned.

* * *

**Would you believe me if I told you that the Haven arcs were always supposed to be just a small intermediary story? The main premise of White is on the adventure, and I really enjoy that more. So we're back on it.**


	16. Zero, the Fourth

A patch of darkness shivered in the corner of the Route 5 gate as Algoran passed through.

It felt a little odd to be back on the road again, and so suddenly, but Algoran was ready to jump right back in this time. It wasn't going to be like the first trip, when he'd been such an amateur and it took so long to get going. There was a towering bronze bridge leading off to the horizon, where the hazy outline of a line of smokestacks and cranes rose to a cloudy sky. Between there and Algoran was a straight, lonely stretch of country road fringed with wild grass.

"All ready? Just nobody go off the path, and nothing happens," he ordered. He rode on Stormburst's back, with the other two walking beside them.

It turned really hard to follow his own advice when they came to a parked RV by the side of the road. Algoran debated for just a second, and then peeked inside.

"Y' two go on in," Krehk suggested. "We'r not all gonna fit in ther'." He and Stormburst waited just outside the door while Algoran and Entrica slid in.

It really was quiet all of a sudden, outside the RV. The city had been...not loud, but at least populated. Now there was just nothing. Except a small ringing. Krehk knocked on his own head to shut out the nagging sound, but then it turned into the gentle twang of a guitar string.

Krehk looked around to the back of the vehicle, and there was a middle-aged guy with long, graying blond hair and an electric guitar on his lap, sitting in a lawn chair. Beside him was a fluffy gray Pokémon draped in a multitude of furry white scarves. The man plucked at a few of the strings before looking up.

"Hey."

"Hey...this ain't yer van, is it?"

"Not unless the apocalypse makes it free game. Now I get one...that's not your Zebstrika, is it?" A smile broke across his face, like talking to a Pokémon was the best thing he'd done all week.

"Trainer's lookin' around in th'...thing."

"Bring him around back here when he's done. I think it would be nice to talk to a human for a little bit. But as long as you're here, I'm always up to hear a good travel story. And you must have one."

"Yeah, I'm a lil' far fr'm home."

It was around the same time Algoran and Entrica reemerged that Krehk concluded recounting their tale. The man, whose name was Preston, shook Algoran's hand and congratulated him.

"You've got yourself a right smart Gurdurr. Keep him around. Now you-who's that?"

Algoran looked over his shoulder. "What?"

"You just...just missed it." Preston looked very uncomfortable for a second before quickly scooping up his Cinccino, saying, "Look, the drawbridge is going down. Usually it doesn't stay like that for too long. Better hurry." As Algoran left him, he heard the door to the van click shut.

The bridge still looked far-off, so they broke into a run. They had to slow down when they all were seemingly afflicted with a ringing in the ears.

The sound intensified until Algoran stumbled under what he knew to be a psychic attack. He blinked and saw Krehk shaking. In front of them, a tiny Pokémon hovered; however, it was the center of a gelatinous green bubble that made the whole thing much larger. The Pokédex was quick to name it. Unlike its description, this one in particular shared a red stripe with too many previous adversaries. The stripe divided its round face.

Duosion wiggled around inside its casing. Pebbles rose up out of the ground and glowed in the air. Krehk narrowly ducked out of the way of the majority. Some still made it through and struck his brain.

"I don' wanna fight this thing righ' now..." he groaned.

"Stay out of it, then." Algoran started thinking. "If it's Psychic, it's probably a thinker, so it's going to go after you because you're its easiest target. If it's you it wants, the rest of us can blitz it while it tries to get to you."

"Good 'nuff fer me," Krehk answered, backing away. Entrica ran past him, and soon Duosion struggled to break through a wall of Leaf Tornados. While it was stuck, Entrica reached out to grip it with vines. Strangely, they made it halfway through the goo before sticking. She tugged Duosion further through the whirlwinds trying to pull herself out.

When the leaves cleared, Stormburst jumped up and stomped the Duosion into the ground, freeing Entrica completely. He doubled up and charged into Duosion, crackling with electricity. Entrica shook it off and sapped some energy with Mega Drain.

Through all of it, Duosion stayed in the fight. Its tiny inner body curled up, and the few burns it got from lightning visibly healed.

"It's never going to let us get past," Algoran realized. "We don't have anything that can hit it hard enough to take it out for good."

He saw gold whiz past his head, followed closely by a formless smoke. A dark haze enveloped the Duosion, after which it sank back into the grass.

The very same Yamask that had been lurking in the back of Algoran's mind had apparently been following them. That might have been why he couldn't shake the thought, he considered. Now it floated and clutched its mask like a stuffed animal.

"You're back..." Algoran said incredulously. He reached out toward the ghost before Entrica ran between them.

"_No, wait. Up till now you've made your own mistakes, but this is for all of us. You want to bring this along, don't you?"_

"You're...why not?"

"_I'm so 'defensive' because you only just learned how to work with three of us, and before we get a mile further you want another one. Can you keep track of four?"_

"Entrica, you don't even know him yet."

"_Neither do you!" _she persisted, but Krehk brushed her out of the way.

"Let th' kid make firs' contact with th' ghost," he coaxed. Entrica jerked away from him.

The unnamed Yamask turned around and looked Algoran dead in the eyes. It slowly opened its mouth. Then it quickly closed it again and pointed forcefully at the bleak drawbridge.

"You're right. We should go." Algoran shook himself out of amazement and kept on forward. The smoky ghost followed, close behind this time.

Algoran was at the head of the pack for a while, but on the bridge, he fell back with Entrica. "Are you okay?" He was quiet about it.

"I'm _fine. I just worry about how we're all going to hold together if we keep adding more teammates._"

"The dynamic will change, I guess...but it's not like we'll fall apart. We'll keep working together, won't we?"

"'_We' as in you and me, or 'we' as in all of us?"_

"I meant all of us..."

"..._Sure. I'll keep it up."_

Algoran was quiet for a second. It wasn't on purpose; more so to try and make sense of Entrica. For a while, it looked like he would be able to. Not at the moment.

"If you wanna talk...we haven't really been on our own since before Castelia."

She shook her head and urged him to the front again. He waited a moment, then obliged.

}====={

"I think," Krehk said loudly, "I think it'd be real nice if we cou'd walk in t' a place and have some people. Jus' regular people."

The clouds hung low over Driftveil city, and a fog low to the street. No living soul was to be found. As usual. Like so many, the town was desolate and gray-but unlike the others, the center of town was a remnant. It wasn't flaming rubble: it was gone. In its place was a gaping sinkhole.

"Okay, I might've ignored it," Algoran announced. "But there is a clear elevator platform _right_ there, and that means there's manmade stuff. And that means interesting."

"Gettin' dark, though." Krehk turned Algoran around to face the shining radiance of hospitality Pokémon Centers gave off. "Instead, we cou'd rest ther', how 'bout?" Algoran took him up.

"_How come you listen to him?"_ Entrica's tone, even in thoughts, turned rather icy.

"What?"

"What?" Krehk repeated.

"_Talking right to you. Try _your _telepathy. I should let you know, you can think to me too, and you've been doing that by accident a lot."_

"Nothin'," Algoran covered. _"Sorry you had to hear some of it. What do you mean, 'I listen to him?'"_

"_I want to stay away from fire, but we go right into Castelia City. He wants to stay away from Sigilyph, and we stay the night in a shack."_

"_Entrica, why am I the bad guy today?"_

"_You're not!" _She swallowed. _"I'm just...way better."_

That having ended the conversation, Algoran entered the Center having worrying notions of Entrica reverting to her young, cheeky, and now that he thought about it, near unbearable self.

}====={

"_They're finally gone!" _A tinny voice squeezed into Algoran's sleeping mind and brought him awake. He expected to sit up and see Entrica, but he was stunned to come face-to-face with the Yamask.

"Who...the other guys?" he mumbled with sleep in his voice.

"_Your other friends...I just wanna talk, but they're..." _She trailed off with almost every word.

A glint off the golden mask flashed in his eye, zapping him out of grogginess. Thinking a little more, Algoran said, "What's that a mask of? Can I-" Yamask recoiled. She kept holding the bust tightly to her ghostly form, panic welling up in her red eyes. "Okay, okay, different question. You have a name?"

She nodded fretfully.

"Not...gonna tell?"

She shook her head 'no' with the same energy, never breaking eye contact.

"Don't worry. That mask is yours if it means that much."

Relaxing somewhat, the Yamask said, _"If you want...I can tell stories."_

"I'd love to hear. According to this," Algoran offered, holding up the Pokédex, "you have a backstory like I wouldn't believe."

Much to Algoran's interest, the ghost vividly remembered all her existence as a spirit. She worked backwards through the chronicle: she followed Algoran because, as he inferred, he was the only human to come down into the sandstone catacombs (what she said was _"he was especially good," _but it was vague), catacombs she was in because the other Yamask guided her there, which they did because the guard of the Sigilyph provided a safe, if dreary, afterlife, an afterlife that she found herself in because of...that was where she hit the wall. Of her human life, she had no memories.

"_I don't remember anything. Zero memories...all I ever was before...now it's just zero..."_

"Well, how about we just call you Yamask?"

"_I left them behind...underground..."_

Algoran kept trying. "If it's really important to you that you separate from the other Yamask, but you don't use your real name...do you think you liked your old life more or less?"

"_Oh...more." _Her voice turned more distant by the word.

"Then let's name you after that. Would you be willing to put negative connotation away and go by Zero?"

"_What's wrong with zero? I like it...easy to understand...nothing. ...It's just malicious in division."_ She gave a single, breathy laugh. It was only for an instant.

"Well, I really like talking to you, Zero. Don't be shy about speaking up when we're all together, okay?" Zero hesitated, then nodded. She rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Algoran. He felt a hug from something like solid wind. As Zero drifted into a corner, she left shiny red tears on Algoran's shoulders.

}====={

The next day, as promised, was dedicated to the sinkhole. Despite the progress Algoran thought he'd seen, Zero hadn't uttered a word all day. With the ground lit in a golden morning light and a breeze, the odds were all in favor of for once putting Algoran at ease, but the sounds emanating from below did anything but. Hollow clangs and thuds of machinery lay over a dark drone. Similarly, the pit faded into blackness quickly.

"I know what you're all thinking, but we," Algoran encouraged, "are on an adventure, and we haven't come against something we can't beat yet. Elevator."

The platform was conspicuous, a metal plate open to the air. Its controls were simple. A pull of a lever sent the whole thing sliding down into the abyss.

Just as Algoran's heart started racing from some kind of anxiety, he felt a sudden wash of calm roll in. He couldn't find its source until he looked at Entrica, who was more relaxed than he'd seen her in a while.

"_Just think about it," _she explained. _"Fire, bugs, fire again. It's been all danger for me, all the time, and now we're underground."_ At Algoran's clear nonunderstanding, she drew bubbles of light from the stone all around them and literally glowed with the energy. _"It's like I can take root everywhere."_

The elevator finally came to a halt, not in a cave, or a mine, but in a city. It was spectacular: a hollow in the earth so wide the walls were faded with distance, and so tall that being relatively near the ceiling as they were, the floor was less defined by a rock face than as a crisscross of metal bridges and tracks running all the way down. Presently they faced such a walkway, dark steel with a strong railing. All the roads seemed to lead into tall black columns, which appeared to be the human habitats below the surface.

Algoran was awestruck beyond speech, but Krehk wasn't silenced. "How in th' world...what 's this?" He dropped his girder and put both hands on his head. "Do y' know what this's s'posed t' look like?" Algoran didn't answer. "I's all s'posed t' be tunnels...ther' aren't any caves this big. Some'un...somethin' hollowed this all out, an' left th' metal."

"Pokémon?" Algoran joined.

"No man."

"If it wanted a hole, it wouldn't leave all this stuff here unless it had to. So maybe...it's a powerful Ground- or Rock-Type, but not Steel. Power over the stone, but not the metal."

At that point, no one was going back. They made their way deeper into the stunning cave, avoiding the foreboding skyscraper-sized towers until their only way forward was through one. It wasn't bad on the inside-more like a lounge room filled with cramped elevators. There were many, but each was only suited for one or two people. They divided up, agreeing to meet at the bottom floor the elevators would take them to. Algoran and Entrica broke off from Krehk and Stormburst. Zero waved mournfully and vanished through the floor.

The lift fell methodically. Algoran brushed some dirt off the back window to watch them descend. Seeing his reflection again, he realized there'd been hair in his eyes for a while. When he pushed it back into his hat he caught its new color: forest green, to match the leaves.

"_That's a nice change," _Entrica said, in a way that sounded almost complimentary.

"Amirissa's was doing this too. You remember? Hers was blue though... I asked about that while we were there."

"_Well, that's not so random, is it? She has Daimaru, and hers turns blue. You have me, and yours turns green."_

"Believe me, this is a nice conversation, and I don't want to go deep if you don't want to, but now we're talking, are you sure there isn't anything on your mind?"

Entrica's smile shrank. _"When did that come into it? It was a matter of whether I wanted to talk or not."_

"So now I _know _there's something up."

She gave a long sigh. _"It can't be summed up...it's just a lot of thinking about how far we'll go. Because at first it was to find your sister, fine, we did that. But then we were safe, and we could have stayed there forever. That city was your goal, wasn't it?"_

Algoran couldn't counter her. When he started, he didn't want an adventure. He wanted to get to Castelia City as quickly and safely as possible so he wouldn't be alone in an apocalypse. In Castelia, and even more so in Nimbasa, there was a society, there was safety, and there was family. He left for another adventure almost immediately.

This would require a long time of introspection.

"You make a good argument, Entrica. I don't know why I kept going."

"_I'll let you think about it sometime. For now...are you at least confident you know what you're doing?"_

"We've been handling adversity better and better. It takes a gym battle to wear us down now."

She closed her eyes in relief. _"I was thinking the same thing."_

Algoran had always been able to read some of Entrica's wordless thoughts as well, and he said, "That's not the only thing."

"_If you insist. Haven't heard about it in a while, but have you given any thought to the big picture with Reshiram and Moto? We know they have some animosity, and 'Kyurem' is important, but what are we? Something, and not something on Reshiram's good side."_

"I guess I haven't. To be honest...it seemed like Moto was way more important to that story. So I thought those two would finish their fight by themselves. But here we are."

It took longer for Entrica to voice her third thought, but she finally did.  
_"I know you wouldn't, but just don't forget about me in a mountain of teammates."_

Thankfully, the elevator came to rest before Algoran had to come back. Zero was waiting for them as the doors opened, and Krehk and Stormburst rejoined them soon after.

* * *

**All valid concerns, Entrica...all valid concerns...**

**I guess you could say the new character-****ADDS NOTHING TO THE STORY...? Number jokes.**


	17. Furthering

**AH. THINGS ARE BE HAPPENING.**

* * *

At the bottom, the tower opened up to a dark metal bridge wide enough to comfortably hold two lanes of traffic. Floodlights beneath the grating activated in sequence, lighting Algoran's group from below.

Likely in the most private of telepathy, Entrica tensed up and said something that through the mumble might have resembled, _"Love you, Algoran." _He didn't have time to think what to say next before Krehk advanced.

He was the first to move from a standstill, running to the midpoint of the bridge and waving. From there, he called, "'S fine! Nothin' t' worry abou'..." The crackle and squeak of a microphone sounded from loudspeakers on the railing, followed by a rich, metallic voice.

"Challengers, adversaries, assailants! You've entered the Driftveil Gym!" The speech reverberated around the chamber, masking Algoran's whispered "Oh, no."

"There was nothing in the contract about abandoning the gym upon the departure of its leader, so we've hung around! We'll follow your lead in style, so give us your best and expect the same!" The voice cut off with a static crunch.

"'M already out," Krehk offered. Algoran nodded, and the door of the tower opposite them opened silently. A single Pokéball sailed from inside to release a sinister Krookodile, who stood more than Krehk's height. It sharped its claw on an ivory tooth before swiping.

Krehk held up his girder to easily block the attack. The Krookodile reached under and hit an opening. Without flinching, Krehk stood back and dropped the metal bar. He caught both of the Krookodile's incoming claws in one fist and knocked it in the jaw with his other. As it recovered, Krehk took the girder back up and swept it into Krookodile's thick legs, knocking it to the ground.

Krehk stepped on its jaw. "This's a joke'f a place," he said.

"Krookodile, you've done a good job given what you have," the faceless voice returned. Less sincerely, it continued, "But where are my _manners_? I could have helped you minutes ago. Now-fight as you're-_used to!_" The last two words were pronounced with strain, as pillars of rock and dirt ascended from below and built dusty walls around the bridge and a solid floor beneath. Stormburst glanced at Algoran, who let him back into his Pokéball.

Beneath Krehk's foot, the jaw grinned. Krookodile's nails were strong enough to rip a hole in the grating, through which it slithered into the dirt.

It was impossible to follow its digging path except for jets of sand that assaulted Krehk. These came together and trapped him in a dusty whirlwind. The winds lessened enough for him to regain his footing, but the sand still swirled in lesser spirals around his head.

The Krookodile emerged from the wall, mouth spread open. It reached Krehk and clamped down hard, on solid metal. Krehk threw the girder down and pinned Krookodile to the floor. He threw a punch in its face that, when the detonation smoke cleared, left its features squished. In a flash of red light, the defeated creature receded to the far tower.

"Krehk!" Algoran congratulated. "When did you learn to do that?"

"Jus' now, I think. Hardes' I've ev'r tried t' hit. Thing was gettin' t' me."

"Are you still up for whoever comes next?"

Already returning to the sidelines, Krehk answered, "Yeah, but 'm wary. Looks like a Ground gym, an' I only beat that guy 'cause he w's Dark."

Entrica dashed to the center of the field. _"Finally, my strength."_ The next one out was a Palpitoad, something the Pokedex read as a Water-Type in addition to Ground. Algoran raised an eyebrow. So far, the gym was going remarkably well. They had a type advantage against every enemy they'd seen.

As Entrica and the Palpitoad launched into combat, Zero breathed, _"She's so strong..."_

"_Don't say that to her face,_" Algoran warned in silent thought. _"She'll never forget it."_

"_How do you deal with her if you can't compliment her, but she won't let you criticize her either?"_

"_You've got this all figured out from two days with her?"_

Zero looked at him. _"Reading personalities isn't hard...if there's nothing else to do."_

Having long since moved past water weapons, the Palpitoad jumped around Entrica, trying what looked like everything it knew. Nothing had yet fazed her: even as unnatural rain pattered from the underground 'sky,' it was not enough to do real damage to her.

She, in contrast, could deal heavy hits to it. Leaves, vines, and draining force hit Palpitoad in succession and left it reeling. Its last effort was to send a dripping ball of purple sludge her way, but she slapped it formless with vines.

With a strong vine constricting the toad, Entrica produced a single leaf that grew and grew to twice its normal size before narrowing into a distinct sword. She tossed the Palpitoad into the air and motioned for the blade to gracefully slash three times, ending that phase of the battle.

There was no pre-event sickness, no ambiguous weakness in Entrica following the Palpitoad's loss. She suddenly lost all support and crumpled, while sparks of gold appeared from nothing and gently rose up all around her. Algoran was shocked into realization and ordered Krehk to pull her off the field himself.

"Excitin'," he encouraged.

"But nowhere near a good time. Krehk, you're gonna have to get back out there. Storm can't do a thing to these guys, just the rough truth, and Zero...?" The ghost shook her head sadly. "Yeah. You're up again."

Krehk rolled his shoulders and left for the battleground. When Entrica opened her eyes, their frames were already shifting in shape, narrowing fiercely. Just as the leafy flap behind her head split into two, she was lost in a towering vortex of light. It shone to the ceiling and blindingly painted the rocky battleground white.

"I'll use this to make my entrance," the steely voice said. From the door came a looming figure, taller and wider than any of Algoran's team. The evolution light shone off metal plates armoring the giant's head and arms. Huge serrated claws became known as the shadow opened its hands. It emerged into the light and glared down at Krehk with fearsome black eyes set beneath a bladed metal helmet. "Even vastly improved Grass power won't be so helpful now." Jarringly, the electric microphone was not needed to give his voice its metal edge or sonorous depth.

Krehk held his girder defensively. In a whiz of black and red, the Excadrill knocked it from his hands and blocked Krehk's every attempt to retrieve it after it clanged to the floor. The earth beneath them shook with only the slightest effort appearing on Excadrill's face. Krehk tripped and fell to his knees, but he used the quake to free a store of rocks from the ground and lob them. They crumbled on impact with no apparent effect.

Algoran still tried to half-shield his eyes and see into the gold brilliance, but Zero pulled him by the arm back into their tower, where the sounds of battle dulled.

"Zero, I should really be there for her-she says evolution hurts-"

"_But you can't _do _anything about it now! It'll be over soon, and she'll feel better. Talk to her in your head if you can." _Seemingly startled by her own chattiness, Zero said nothing more.

"_Entrica, can you hear?"_

"_I really don't want to talk!" _Her voice was troublingly permeated with the tone of pain.

Algoran debated whether or not to say more, and he decided to assure her, _"Zero says not much longer."_ Then he too fell silent.

Krehk had entirely lost Excadrill as the metal monster tunneled at ferocious speed beneath the ground, setting sharp rocks as traps everywhere he went.

Meanwhile, Entrica's body went through a greater change than it had before. Her tail elongated again, doubling her length. Even now her limbs refused to strengthen: her arms merely moved to rest on her back, and her legs shrunk until they disappeared entirely.

Excadrill rocketed up out of the ground with a steel flash. He spun like a bullet, cutting Krehk as his sharp body dragged Krehk's skin. He made the mistake of opening his metal shell to fire a jet of sand from his claws, which Krehk pushed through to grab the Excadrill by the fur. Krehk pushed him into the ground and fell on top of him, all while retaining the hold. Excadrill rolled backwards and with only a spreading of his arms brought bricks of stone from the ground. They assembled into a suit for Krehk, covering all but his face and holding him still.

"I take is this was your best," the Excadrill sneered. "Forget manners. You pushed me to me last nerve, taking down those two so fast. Leave it to me to give you the same treatment." He raised a wicked claw.

Entrica gave one final cry before she stretched in midair and her silhouette fully showed her new shape. The light vanished in a powerful blast, and Entrica was gone. A green blur launched from her position in the air and crashed into the Excadrill, thereby removing Krehk from the fight. He shouted encouragement, but Algoran was only focused on discerning what Entrica could do now. He left the safety of the tower.

Only snippets of Entrica were visible as she pummeled Excadrill in a frenzy. At first sparks flew off the fray from her random strikes, many of which bounced off the metal armor, but she turned calculating and left gashes in the black fur that fizzled green smoke, hitting weak points every time.

As the Excadrill toppled, Entrica retreated, shattering Krehk's confines when she passed. She coiled up, finally still, and raised her head high. A small sun ignited behind her, and the same glow came over her eyes. From it shone an unrelenting beam of light that swallowed Excadrill. When it subsided, he lay on the ground. He didn't stand up, but he still managed to glower.

"First loss," he growled. "On my own. Thanks."

"We would have left peacefully," Algoran retorted. He led his team to the other tower and waited for the closing door to take them out of Excadrill's earshot.

"Entrica," Algoran began, finding it difficult to make eye contact now that hers looked down to his. Her head and neck curled down to look at him, and even still she must have passed seven feet in height. Beyond that, her body was even longer-it was no longer a tail. Entrica had evolved fully and taken the form of an enormous, imposing, utterly powerful serpent. "You were beyond words."

She gazed back at him, still not saying a word.

"Psh. Col'r me upstairs." Krehk took an elevator by himself, followed soon by Zero drifting up through the ceiling.

Entrica's eyes welled up with tears. She coiled around Algoran and held him tight.

"This came out of nowhere. But...love you, too."

* * *

***tears up***

**Sorry, Krehk. You'll get your congratulatory phrase come chapter next.**


	18. City in the Sky

**It's summer. If I had tried to do a super-long chapter again to make up for a wait, I would have never gotten through it. Not for months, anyway. So I wrapped it up where I was, and now it's here. Nice and mellow.**

* * *

Algoran caught himself just before he moseyed into a spider web. He was looking away, so it wasn't the sight of it that tipped him off-it was the hum of electricity.

What he'd seen from a distance away looked like a cave entrance, the caves on the path Amirissa had told him about. Up close, an obstruction was visible. A neatly-spun net of electrified silk stretched over the opening, making entry treacherous.

"Amirissa said we could go over the mountains too," Algoran remembered. "It might take longer to get up there, but it'll probably do us good after being in that hole for an hour."

The further up they trudged, the colder it got. Algoran covered his ears as they chilled in the mountaintop snow. Krehk easily scaled the rocks, pausing often to let the rest catch up. Zero glided effortlessly up the cliffs. When the terrain turned vertical, Algoran had to put Entrica away and toss her container up to Krehk, who would be waiting above. He could help pull Algoran up, or Stormburst sometimes carried him while hopping skillfully across slight outcroppings.

Finally, the path leveled out. A wild view stretched out to the horizon. In the direction they were heading was a plain furred with tall grasses and pockmarked with stones. It was too close to the mountains to be seen from Algoran's standing, but he knew of a city that lay in the range itself called Mistralton. They would stop there for a bit, hopefully staying out of trouble.

Misty raindrops drifted from gray clouds not far above their standing. Still sizing Entrica up after her evolution, Algoran repeated, "You were amazing down there. We might not have won if you hadn't pulled it out in the last second." Noticing Krehk stomping through the snow ahead of them, Algoran called, "Not to put you down. You were the only other guy we had, and you did well."

Krehk stopped, turned around, said, "Thanks," and pressed on.

Algoran sighed while Storm trotted alongside him, oblivious. _"I had tense energy built up,_" Entrica answered. Again, her voice had matured. "_Now I wish I'd waited to unveil-Solar Beam? I forget the names sometimes-until we got somewhere with more sun. It would have been more impressive."_

"Don't think like that. It was still great."

As they trekked, Algoran began to regret not tearing down the web and finding their way through the cave. The weather was only getting colder, with sleet cutting down from the sky. Though staying together would mean warmth, spending the walk mostly in silence drove the group apart. Cyclically, being far away from one another made it harder to hold a conversation, except mentally, which Algoran and Entrica did.

Her comments and then complaints of the cold grew in frequency until her mind slowed. Algoran had to look back at her and was shocked at what he saw. She had her proud head bowed against the wind, eyes locked shut. Most worrying of all was the layer of frost coating her scales.

"Krehk, wait up a second! Don't get too far ahead!" he shouted into the cold. The lumbering shadow in the distance stopped and turned, but didn't come any nearer. Stormburst trotted over, and Algoran welcomed the heat radiating from his ignited fur.

Entrica shivered, unintentionally baring her fangs. She moved closer to Storm's fire. A short distance away, Zero looked on dolefully. She secreted three shimmering fireballs from her hand, which danced around Entrica.

"Good work, guys. Keep that up," Algoran said. He reached up and brushed the ice off Entrica's neck and continued down her length. There was a lot of her to warm. "This should let us know to get out of this. Let's turn around and take another shot at that cave." He shouted the plan to Krehk, who made a motion like he hadn't heard. "Both of you stay here and help her. I'll go get him."

Krehk disappeared while Algoran followed him. As he approached a rocky plain, Krehk pulled him behind a snowbank. "Look," he said. "Caref'lly."

Peering over the top of the drift, Algoran's heart jumped. The snow had concealed Reshiram from him as he approached. The dragon was gazing the other direction, tracking a wispy cloud that was rocketing in the direction of Mistralton. All the rain and snow dispersed somewhere else from a raging windstorm that erupted from the north. Sounds of stone breaking and wood snapping resounded from the valley. Krehk roughly grabbed Algoran and bolted across the mountaintop faster than Algoran thought he could.

Incredibly, Krehk could lift Entrica around his shoulders and carry his girder as he ran. Storm galloped alongside, and Zero followed with no trouble, even having taken up Algoran in her smoky arms. He assured her he could be let down. The mountain snow whirled restlessly behind them as they descended.

With a mighty charge, Stormburst ran through the electric webbing and tore it down. The static passed harmlessly through his fur. The rest of them could cautiously enter the shady chasm. As an afterthought, Krehk loosed his explosive punch on the mountain side before he followed Algoran into the cave. They were thrust into total blackness when an avalanche brought on by Krehk's disturbance sealed the door behind them.

"Relax," he assured. "I c'n dig through ther' if th' need be."

The darkness around them was silencing. Algoran felt a wash of relief when, a few feet in, a spark cracked off Storm's back and struck a stone. A chain reaction of lightning spread through the cave, and soon a rocky atrium was lit electric blue from all corners by levitating stones. Many were barely more than spearheads, but some were as large as boats.

"I'm…glad we went in here…this is incredible!" Algoran said.

"_And now we find our path through the caves,"_ Entrica continued, already peering into branch tunnels.

"Wait, no," Krehk interjected. "It cou'd be days 'r more b'fore we make our way by guessin'."

"_If we had a metaphysical guide that could see more of the cave than we can here, I'm sure it would be a lot better, yes. But we have limits. Clear, physical limits."_

"_You say that like I'm not here."_ Zero's quiet chime contrasted Entrica's sternness. She made eye contact with Algoran before moving backwards and through a wall. She disappeared for a short time, but came back with a definitive, "_That way."_

They went by her direction. Deeper into the cave, water dripping from the roof and static humming on the glowing stones merged in a strange soundscape. From far away, creaking metal made Algoran shiver.

Even more unsettlingly, Zero jerked to a stop at a crossroads of two narrow tunnels.

"_What is it?"_ Entrica asked, patiently.

"_I didn't see anywhere that looked like this,"_ she answered. _"Let me…let me check again…"_ With that, Zero vanished into the rocks again. When she returned, she pointed them down the left tunnel and said it would get them back on track.

They came to a space with a floor coated in stalagmites. Formations hung from the ceiling as well, but they were made of steel-and thorny spikes sticking out of them pulsed with life. When it looked like the group might get through the odd nest with little trouble, the tiny maces started dropping. They bounced erratically when they hit the ground.

Krehk acted quickly and batted them away. He lobbed his bar into the ceiling, setting off a sudden cave-in. Rocks tumbled down and blanketed the Ferroseed. The disturbance exposed an even stranger creature: a metal ship that hung from the ceiling with stringy fibers and stared with yellow eyes. It stayed in its place, and Algoran moved on.

He didn't want to imagine how much longer it could have taken them to conquer the tunnels without Zero's help. With her, it was only an hour. Even after beautiful daylight could be seen again, it began to look like the road would never smooth out.

Gravel tore around in the roaring wind, dropped from land high in the sky. A supernatural hurricane had erupted beneath Mistralton City, and its expanse of rural homes stood firmly on chunks of earth suspended in the gust. The largest one supported the entire Mistralton airport, runways and aircraft all included.

There appeared no easy way to enter the city, if it was even habitable by humans, which Algoran debated. He was at a loss for a decision until someone peered over the side of an island and waved warmly.

"Newcomers?" the girl shouted.

"How is it up there?" Algoran asked, more to gauge the safety than to make conversation.

"Not bad," she returned. "We've been handling things." A single Swoobat came into view. It approached ground level and took Algoran and his entire group up in individual pink spirals. They left the ground and took to the skies, making landfall on the closest floating city block, which was incredibly sturdy beneath his feet given its position. Being directly above the columns of air had the effect of dulling their sound, which was much easier on his ears.

"_This entire journey has stopped making sense,"_ Entrica muttered. _"And here we are."_

Algoran shook hands with the girl, whose name she wouldn't tell. Still, she explained their standing.

"This isn't the first time we've seen hostile weather Pokémon drop by. We have handbooks about it."

"So…" Algoran glanced off the edge of the yard again. "…your entire city can just rise into the air on a hurricane and everything's fine?"

"What do you think we are if not airborne?" She drew his attention to the far-off airport. "Shipping by airplane and a Flying-Type gym! I almost wonder if we need to go back down, really."

Krehk was pale in the face. Before the conversation lulled, he entered, "Hi. Krehk, voice a' reason, it seems. Jus' gotta ask for me own sake-is ther' anyone here lookin' out for safety?"

"I think we're safe enough. There're Swoobat, you know." Sure enough, dozens of fuzzy bats swerved about above the city. "I'm pretty sure they're out to catch you." She came forward to him and ran her fingers along Krehk's worn-out girder. It was the same one he'd had since his evolution in the desert, and maybe it was a wonder it had held out so long. "Would you like a new one of these? We keep a stock of construction material for you guys."

He perked up at that. "'You guys?' Y' say that like ther's more, an' I haven' seen a single one since I left home."

"Of course. A whole colony of them live in Twist Mountain back there. This is sort of their place to go when they need to restock."

"Y'know what, I'll pass on th' metal. I jus' need a ride over ther'."

"Don't you want to take a break here for a while?" Algoran asked. "We just walked for most of the day."

"It's person'l reasons." He leaned in and whispered to Algoran, "We need anoth'r one of us around t' evolve."

After Algoran made him promise they could be trusted alone (which he mostly already believed anyway) and Zero and Storm hugged one more time, Krehk and Stormburst were lowered by Swoobat to the distant ground. They were a speck as they traveled.

After they had gone, the girl invited the rest of them inside, where they sat around a living room. She leaned on her knees and said, "Krehk said he 'left home,' and the only other place I know that's home to a lot of those guys is around Pinwheel Forest. And that tells me you've all had a real trip to get here. I'd love to hear about it."

"But it's so long at this point…maybe I could write it down? It'd be easier to remember."

"Don't worry. My memory's a gladiator," she said, with a wink Algoran couldn't place.

He felt he must have gone into plenty of storytelling detail, even more than with Amirissa. Entrica barely added anything. Zero shrank behind her mask when her part arrived, and Algoran made an effort to quickly pass it and hoped that wouldn't just make it more interesting.

In awed response, the girl said, "You…have done a lot. If I could recommend what you do next, try our gym? It might be a welcome change from what you've been up against. The Pokémon there have been running it the traditional way, but by themselves."

"Like with a referee and everything?"

She nodded. "All the old regulations."

"_I think we should wait until Krehk gets back and we have our full team. It'll give us a few days to rest, too."_ Algoran repeated her sentiment.

"Well, nothing's stopping you from staying here. We're hospitable people, and right now, not much more to do than stay home."

}====={

Out on the road with only Stormburst next to him, Krehk saw it as a good time to experience some one-on-one bonding.

"I guess you've known th' guy longer 'n I have." There were pauses between Krehk's statements as it came to him that while Storm usually looked like he understood some, he couldn't say anything back. Instead, Krehk ended up just voicing his own thoughts after a while. He shifted his girder on his back.

"He's a good guy. Think if it was jus' him an' me, we'd be real good friends." His thoughts drifted to the ones preventing that from being the case, like Entrica and Zero. He hadn't even really talked to Zero, but that was fine, because she seemed to be attached to Algoran much more than anyone else. Entrica was different though-he hadn't seen a time when Algoran was without her, both in the sense that they were increasingly inseparable, and also in that they'd been traveling together before he joined them.

From traveling with Algoran, Krehk had grown used to Storm's soft glow being all that would light a dark cave. After evolution, he noticed, that light was stronger and cast the stone walls into what could be confused for torchlight.

They had to deal with a common occurrence that went down the same way every time: a creature made of blue rock unfolded three legs from its main body and approached them. Sometimes it triggered an earthquake, and other times a rockslide. While Stormburst stood far back, Krehk charged the wild form and pummeled it until it stumbled back into the shadows.

He was ready to tackle another, but it stopped him dead. "Hey, hey, hold up," it cautioned. Krehk looked up into a face that looked both decades old and tough as earth. He knew at once who he was seeing-a Conkeldurr, exactly who he had come for. "Yer past th' nasties."

"Conkeldurr," Krehk started, "I came in here t' evolve."

The much larger one rolled his enormous shoulders. "Tha's what most a' th' visitors're for. Ready?" Krehk nodded. He was blinded by an instant of bright light, and then an ache came over his head. The Conkeldurr drew back his fist. "Ther' y' go."

"Thanks. Krehk."

"Gdon."

As his elder lumbered away, Krehk felt his own body growing to such a size. His muscles rippled beneath his skin, bringing a sense of glory to his mind. He grinned as the transformation finished.

"C'mon, Storm," he growled, reveling in the sound of his new voice. "We gotta get back." Then, his mind shifted. He knew he'd be seeing his world in a new light after evolution, and he changed his order. "Never mind. Can y' find yer own way back, big guy?" Stormburst nodded nobly. "Get on, then." They parted ways, with Storm turning back and Krehk following Gdon deeper into the mountain.


	19. Crisis

**bOY it has been a while. The worst part is I couldn't even tell you why (partially because I don't remember when I last updated and I somewhat dread to check), but mostly because it's just been pure life. This is the side hobby I usually throw to the wayside when my free time dwindles, so in whatever the time span has been since I last finished a chapter the time I've actually spent writing has plummeted, you can see. Two things I had hoped to do aren't going to go through: Because of the long wait, I had wanted to do that thing I did a while ago where to make up for it I put out a super-long chapter, but the way this was going that would take upwards of five years, probably. Also, I wanted to finish the story in a nice, even 20 chapters, but again that would make this one really long. But the key in that is that for the first time in actually quite a while I know exactly where the story is going and what steps I have to take to get it there, so for the next however many chapters I'm just getting there. Also, if I'm looking at it right, the formatting is inconsistent with other chapters (as usual). Or maybe it won't come out like that in the final view. I don't know. It doesn't bother me. (Used to, but I'm a brand new me. In that respect.)**

_"__Are you awake?"_

"And what if I'd said no," Algoran mumbled.

_"__It would have been as good as yes." _Entrica coiled around his couch.

"Sleepless night?"

_"__Thinking night. Now I can talk to you alone."_

Algoran stretched. "We've done that before." Zero rose out of the floor, pouting. Entrica was at an awkward loss for words, so he put in, "You can't blame her for forgetting you're here. You were sleeping in the ground." Zero descended.

Entrica resumed, _"It's probably not a topic she would like anyway. And I wanted to get you alone because I don't know how public you want it."_

"This sounds too serious for the middle of the night."

He sobered up at the look of care on her face. _"Something registered with me, okay? I got thinking all the way back and I remembered when you talked about your family and how it was only you there. What do you mean 'you had a younger sister, but she'd been dead?'"_

"My parents must have gone in the attack, Amirissa was away, and my little sister Astra died way before it." It was a curt expansion, but it still weighed on Algoran's chest. He sat up.

Entrica pulled back from his face. _"You…don't want to talk about it."_

"It's just that…I can't really talk about it because we don't know what happened. It was sad, I know that. She was really young, got really sick, and died pretty fast. Years before all the-stuff-happened."

_"__Oh…"_ Algoran could feel Entrica's spirit sink, and she pulled away further. _"If you couldn't sleep before…"_

"I wasn't going to anyway. Kind of been worried about Krehk. I don't think he'd get himself hurt, but I wish I knew what he's doing." There was a bit of silence, during which Entrica moved back to the middle of the floor.

_"__Maybe it takes a long time for his kind to evolve."_

"I'd just hoped he'd be back tonight, because I wanted to try the gym in the morning. And he should be rested for that." Stormburst snuffled in his sleep. "He didn't look beat up when he got back. So maybe they didn't hit any trouble." They both lay awake for a while. After some time, Algoran remembered something and said, "Entrica?"

_"__Mhm?'_

"Love you too."

Suddenly, Zero burst from the floor and rushed to the couch-side._ "He's in Twist Mountain. He evolved, but he says he's taking some time alone,"_ she carefully reported.

"You-flew all the way out there just now?"

_"__You said…you wanted to know what Krehk was doing…" _When Zero said this, Entrica shifted. Algoran could tell why: Zero had heard other parts that were supposed to be private. He hoped she could see that he didn't mind them having been heard-the reason Entrica said she wanted it between them was only for his sake.

Then she turned annoyed. _"What does he _mean? _We don't take breaks!"_

_"__He-he just said he had a change of mind and wanted to move through it…"_

Algoran skimmed the Pokedex's expanded entry on Gurdurr, and then its intimidating successor. "The only thing I can find is that Conkeldurr sometimes have loyalty issues once they evolve."

_"__Meaning that Krehk might be rethinking whether he wants to work with us," _Entrica finished.

After thinking for a second, Algoran decided, "Then it's not urgent that we go and find him. He'll be back once he figures out what he wants to do. I think now we have closure on what's going on, and it really is time for sleep."

Zero nodded obediently and descended. Entrica was still considering things, but she too coiled up and nested in her self-built bed of leaves. Algoran finally managed to nod off.

}====={

The next day, the weather above and below was less amiable. The suspending clouds had grown dark and violent, as the higher clouds that signaled a coming thunderstorm. The Flying-Type gym was unquestionably shut down for the day, making a challenge impossible even if the team had wanted to try to function in the humidity. As it stood, it was a rainy day to spend indoors.

As lightning flickered outside the windows and thunder shook the walls, Entrica slid around the lent house, something that seemed akin to pacing. _"This is an uneasy day," _she remarked. To further her concern, a faint drone was blaring from far off in the sky. After a few minutes, it began increasing in volume until a terrifying roar engulfed the city.

Hurriedly, Zero phased her head through one of the home's walls and warned Algoran not to go outside. Instead, he stared out the window at the menacing body of Reshiram coming to rest in the city center.

_"__Algoran!" _The dragon's voice tore into Algoran's brain while his steely howl split the air. _"Exit the dwelling at once, or this town will fall!"_ Very suddenly, the mystery girl's hand was around Algoran's arm, tossing him out the door. Entrica, Zero, and Stormburst naturally followed him. From this point, Algoran could see an equally-intimidating rider of a huge frame atop Reshiram's back. _"I did notice you on the mountain. However, I was preoccupied, which is a condition you'll notice is not in effect as of now."_

Orange flames escaped through his bared teeth. The rider looked quickly to the sky in front of them and tugged backwards at Reshiram's neck. In surprise, he instinctively bucked his head forward and threw the rider from his mount. Torc, the apparent sentry of Route 4, crashed to the street in front of Algoran. He grunted and stood up with a gruff, "How y'been, kid," but even he was mostly watching the drama above. A half-human, half-cloud figure had appeared to challenge the dragon.

Reshiram and the newly-identified Thundurus exchanged elemental blasts-fiery missiles crossed crackling lightning bolts in midair.

"He's under our official protection!" Thundurus warned in a voice whose resonance befit his name.

_"__Laughable. There's nothing official about the three of you sequestering yourselves in the name of this child."_

"A law is a law if one can enforce it."

_"__So enforce! You haven't even struck me yet." _Reshiram only then appeared to notice Torc had fallen from his back, so he added, "_Incapacitate him, boar!"_ At this, Torc turned to Algoran and rolled his broad shoulders. "You heard him. Rematch."

"No way. We're not giving you a fair match now. Why are you working with Reshiram?" Algoran could admit this was mostly a method of stalling, but he was speaking his real thoughts and questions.

"I was working for him then, too. He didn't want you moving any further along, see? But I let you go anyway cause I was beat and I thought the desert could take you out. Then you pulled an Algoran and dodged all of nature's fury to keep on trekking."

_"__Don't let him drag you in!"_ Reshiram warned, still in the heat of his battle.

"Right, right. Done talking." As the fire around Torc's face flared up, Entrica tied his hands in a flash and wrapped herself around him. He hovered, trapped by Zero's powers, and Stormburst stood so his buzzing horn was just beneath Torc's chin.

"You can see where that's going to go." In the midst of everything-a menacing force intent on his harm, a raging battle of legendries, and the presence of the dragon who got Algoran into all this-he felt a welcome, if out-of-place, sense of optimism. He had a team who had his back and now was powerful enough to seemingly counter any opposition, and even Reshiram was having trouble getting to him. "Storm, give him some, but be gentle." At his command, a weak jolt of lightning passed through Torc and left him limp. He recovered quickly, but it didn't do him any good with where he was.

In a momentary glance to the battle, Algoran watched Thundurus take a lethal blow from a bolt of energy that cast the town into an eerie purple light. Cloud and all, he dropped out of the sky. Unimpeded, Reshiram finally landed in front of Algoran. He threw a sideways look at Torc, then threatened, _"History repeats." _He returned to the air and got underway.

An overpowering light grew above Reshiram's head, and Algoran had to turn away. But as he did, his memories told him what was coming and he immediately ordered, "Let Torc go!" Confused, Storm backed down and Zero stopped holding him up, but Entrica stayed her course.

_"__We have him!" _she countered. Algoran shook his head, but the fireball was already on its way. He felt the heat and the force just before blacking out.

}====={

The recognizable sounds of a dull roar and far-off impact registered immediately with Rend. He turned his bladed head, not much, but enough to see the rising smoke billow over the mountains. In the long stretches of the afternoon, nothing ever happened to draw his attention, so this was noteworthy. Although, to be honest with himself, this would divert his focus at any time on any day. After alerting his second, Gaft, that he was making a second-degree clerical withdrawal from duty, Rend left the flat ground of their position and returned to the silver crags in the west.

}====={

Zero's red eyes peered back at Algoran in what he first thought was a dream, then saw as a very real and very unfamiliar setting. Wherever it was, there was tall grass turning golden in the middle of fall, as it was, spread almost over coarse dirt and gray rock. He was still in the mountains, but mercifully removed from the cruel winter conditions atop the peaks. And whatever had happened to him to put him in this fairly hospitable place left Zero watching him concernedly.

Algoran blinked, regaining some idea of himself. This wasn't unthinkable-yes, this place was new, and he had some holes in his memory, but he could easily take care of unseen terrain. That's what he'd been doing for…quite a while, at least.

"Did you see what happened?" he asked Zero as he brushed himself off.

She shook her head quickly, up and down for yes. "We fell."

"Can…you elaborate?"

"Sure…but it's not a happy thing," she said, squirming a bit. "Reshiram attacked the city…Entrica and Storm are gone. I didn't see where they went down…I was watching you."

It took a tense moment for Algoran to take in this information. As the situation became clearer, it looked more and more like something he never considered having to handle. Once again, his home city, or at least one that had welcomed him, was ashes and he was nearly alone. And again he felt a responsibility and emotional necessity to seek out those close to him, despite not knowing their location or even if they were still around.

"I think…our priority has to be to find Entrica and Storm," he decided, retaining dread. "They're probably not far, relatively speaking. Since we all fell out of the same place."

"How will we know which direction to go?"

He scanned around. "The easiest thing to do first is probably to find Krehk, because we know where he is. Do you recognize Twist Mountain around here? And maybe we'll run into the others along the way."

Zero watched him as he stood up fully. Algoran saw her quivering.

"Don't be upset," he said in what he hoped was some kind of comforting tone. "I've done this before. And so have you. Just because we're on our own now doesn't make it any different from when you were with us before."

_"…__More dangerous? There's only two of us now. And it's that way."_

"Try not to think about what-ifs. I bet you're stronger than you give yourself credit for." Zero tended to hover lower than Algoran's head level, in a timid sort of way, and this habit was particularly apparent now. It made him wish she had more of a solid form, so he could take her hand and lift her up. If there was one thing memorizing the Unova Pokédex had done for him, it was give him a new kind of sight, one that let him know the potential of humble creatures like Zero. Although, the more time he spent with her, the more a sense grew in the back of his mind that she truly was an intelligence apart from Pokémon.

}====={

Foliage cracked and split as Rend cut his path through the grass. He only slowed when he detected a rustling other than his own. The weeds in front of him fluttered, and a Bisharp twice Rend's size cut through, succeeded by a disordered mass of Pawniard serfs.

"You're-already on your way," Rend said, not sure if this even reached up Bisharp's height.

It seemed to. "It was visible from camp, and we've been mobile since we saw. You and Gaft ought to follow us."

"Yes. But…where are we going?"

Bisharp held a metal hand in the direction of the disturbance. "That's an omen of something powerful. We're forming a line around our territory."

Rend shivered. A defensive line was hardly a clerical operation. When there was something to defend against, someone always fell for the cause.

}====={

While Algoran was still glad to be away from the mountaintops, it was getting hard to ignore the chilled winds drifting from Icirrus City, which lay in the path to Twist Mountain. The cold stayed on that level, but the icy fog hanging over the settlement and obscuring its details were enough to imply the temperature of the place.

_"__It's…strange,"_ Zero mused, unsure how to really describe the sight.

"Maybe more like mystifying," Algoran continued.

_"__I don't know a lot of words…"_

Something about that seemed off. "If it's not crossing any lines, aren't you a ghost? You must have been around a long time. Enough time to teach yourself things."

_"__Not all ghosts are ancient. I'm not."_ She said this with relative confidence, but quickly dialed herself back. Algoran didn't let on, but most of Zero's comments pushed him further and further into gnawing curiosity at her identity. He only held it back because if she was barely comfortable giving this vague fact about her age, there was almost no way she'd want to tell who she was.

Zero herself, unbeknownst to him, was feeling a similar drive. Hers was to tell him who she was, because she knew he must want to know, and if it went as well as she hoped, it could bring them closer. She almost brought herself to say a few times, but never fully. It was never quite the right time, and truly, she had no sure idea how he'd take it. After all, he was talking to the ghost of…a very special person. So they continued on toward Iccirus City, with important things still unsaid.

While the haze still lay thick on the ground in the city, it wasn't as piercing as Algoran expected. What drew his attention more than the mist or the chill was the attitude of the whole place. After so many urban centers, the rurality was rather striking. Dirt paths connected squat buildings in a disordered arrangement, contrasting rigid cement road planning. Children played in the grass, and it was finally apparent the exact source of the mist. It blew from a hollow in a squat cliff. Both he and Zero found themselves entranced by the mysteries of the place, and so Algoran jumped when someone came up behind them.

It was a woman with a soft but wrinkled face that gave the appearance of age and youth at once, dressed in what looked like exotic silk. "From whence have ye come, traveler?" she rasped.

Algoran looked back toward the mountains. "That way, kind of. Why do you ask?" He wasn't quite sure what to do about this, but he figured this was either something to help them on their quest or nothing dangerous.

"You haven't come from that disaster, have you?" Her surprise at his answer seemed to have taken some of the mysticism from her demeanor. "It's all anyone's been talking about here. How in the world did you survive Mistralton just now?"

"It's not the first time, actually," Algoran admitted, thinking back. "If you're curious, Nuvema Town too." Her eyes widened.

"You incredible child."

"Thank you."

The woman's gaze flicked to Zero for a second. "And has this Yamask been with you the whole time?"

Now, getting to talk of his Pokémon, Algoran got the sense he should keep some things hidden. He really didn't know this lady's motivations, and with Entrica and Stormburst still out there, he didn't want to give anything away in case it could endanger him. The chances were small, but he wouldn't take a chance he didn't have to. So instead, he simply said, "Yes. This is Zero. Met her roaming when I left town."

He had thought Zero was drifting away from the cave entrance, but at this point he realized the woman had been inching closer to it and he was subconsciously following. "Enter, because strange things happen to the Pokémon who do," she advised, the mystique returning. With a startling pink gleam flashing in her eyes, she added, "Yours is on the brink." And finally, withdrawing, she whispered "Of _evolution._" The general mist of the area helped her vanish.

_"__Is it a good idea?" _Zero wondered. _"It's kind of…off-track."_

"Probably not. I think we need to just keep moving." And then, some invisible force nudged them inside, for an iron door to slam behind them. From the other side could be heard the woman insisting, "It'll be good for you, I promise!"

Algoran ran to the door and ran his hands over it, looking for a latch for a few disbelieving seconds. "It's always some door…this is not good." As his eyes adjusted, the interior came into view: a vast cavern within which an athletic course of ice rinks and slides formed a sort of freezing playground. He let out a long groan.

_"__Algoran?"_

"This is a gym. We're not getting out until we get through here and beat whoever's at the end." He paused in his thoughts before continuing, "I don't even know what we'll do when we get out. We just barely had enough time probably to find Entrica and Stormburst before they move too far away or something else happens…we might just have to give up on Krehk for a while and assume he'll be ok by himself, because at least he's probably staying in the same place and we can come back for him."

_"__So…what do we do now?"_

"Let's just get through this as fast as we can. Zero, I have to say, this is your time."

She nodded honorably, and they got to work.


End file.
